The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers
by Howlin the Werewolf
Summary: Kyubey has won. Carrying Sloth's Grief Seed through the Gate, Greed hopes to find a way to restore her in a new world. In the process, he'll learn more about the nature of the soul than he ever expected and be changed in ways he couldn't have imagined.
1. Chapter 1: To Witness the Gates of Hell

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 1) To Witness the Gates of Hell  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Note:  
This story is an immediate sequel to The Iron Sole Alchemist and Magical Girl Sloth, which is part of a series of stories. Those stories introduce characters, events, and concepts. You may not understand everything if you have not read the previous stories.

* * *

I'd arrived in a new world. Traveling through the Gate, I'd reverted to my default appearance with brown hair spiked up, dark skin clothed by heavy black boots, black leather pants, and an open half vest that showed off the oroboros tattoo in the center of my chest. My left eye was brown. The right was blue. A strap over one shoulder that went across my body supported a messenger bag. A silver chain attached to a belt loop led into my right pocket.

At my side was a floppy eared brown dog. He wore a collar embroidered with complex alchemic designs and a faintly glowing red crystal at the front.

Glancing around, we took in our surroundings. We'd appeared on a paved sidewalk. There was an empty street nearby and rows of houses. In addition to telephone poles and power lines, there were trees, bushes, and garden boxes decorating each lot. The magical false eye in my right socket allowed me to look through the walls of houses and see the people inside going about their daily lives.

"Well, Loki," I said to my dog, "at least this place feels warmer and friendlier than the last one."

Loki at my side, I picked a direction and started walking. It wouldn't take too long to find a library and get a basic sense of what was normal for this world.

Suddenly, I heard an explosion. Gauging its direction, Loki and I took off at a run toward it. On arriving, I saw a broken telephone pole lying splintered on the ground, a small woman with black hair wearing a grey skirt and jacket, and a tall dark skinned, muscular man wearing a patterned, short sleeved shirt with a massive blood stain on the back.

My magical false eye allowed me to see a ten foot tall, humanoid creature that was invisible to my normal eye. It was covered in green fur and had a white, exoskeleton-like covering on only its head. A round opening went all the way through the center of its chest. The woman could see it, and wasn't taking her eyes off it. The man couldn't see it, but was aware of its presence and had his fists up defensively.

A number of frog-like creatures the size of cats were hidden in the bushes, watching the events unfold. When Loki and I arrived, the woman swung an arm out to her side, vaguely in our direction and called out, "Get back! It isn't safe here!"

As she called out, the frog-like creatures leapt out of the bushes at Loki and I. I stomped my foot and blue light surged from the transmutation circle on the bottom of my shoe along the pavement. A dozen hands made of concrete rose out of the ground and caught each of the creatures out of the air.

"I can take care of myself," I said with a smirk playing on my lips. "What exactly is going on here?"

The smirk vanished when the frog-like creatures split themselves open and dozens of fist sized purple leaches flew out of their bodies and stuck to me and Loki. The larger creature opened its mouth, incidentally revealing a second set of teeth, and extended a forked tongue. The tongue vibrated like a tuning fork, though I couldn't hear any sound. At the same instant, the leaches exploded.

The resulting injuries to myself and Loki were superficial. There were some painful burns, but the leaches exploded more like large fireworks than like fragmentation grenades. Unfortunately, the sneak attack had burned off part of the alchemy array on Loki's skin that allowed him to transform.

"Thanks for making this easy for me," I told the larger creature with my eyes narrowed. I raised my right hand and a flame alchemy array drew itself on the back of my hand. "You hurt my dog. Now you die."

In response, the creature shifted to the side revealing a birdcage with three of the frog-like creatures clinging to it and a white bird inside. Both the man and the woman recognized the bird.

"The cockatiel," said the woman. "So that's where the hollow was before. Grabbing the cockatiel as a hostage."

Then the bird spoke in a voice like a small child. "I'm so sorry, mister. I was trying to call for you."

"That's okay," said the large man, trying to comfort the bird.

Those leach bombs hadn't been particularly powerful, but that many, that close, against a body as fragile as a bird, it would definitely die from that. The woman was right. The creature was clearly trying to use the bird as a hostage.

"Do as he says," said the woman, who could apparently hear the creature speaking and making its threat explicit. "Don't think for a second he won't blow up the bird. At least the chase will take him away from here so you'll be safe."

"But what about you, new girl?" asked the large man.

"Don't be concerned. I can take care of myself," said the woman. A smirk appeared on her face and she added, "I made a promise. I'll be just fine."

"Good luck," said the man.

"Thanks," said the woman, who then bolted.

More of the frog-like creatures chased her, followed soon thereafter by the larger one. I waited until the large creature had rounded a corner chasing the woman, then I stomped again. Stone spikes impaled the smaller creatures surrounding the birdcage and I quickly retrieved it, holding it to the man.

"The bombs are disarmed," I told him, then turned to follow the woman. "I'm going to help her."

"Right," said the man, running alongside me with the cage in his hand.

We caught up with them near a river, with the woman facing down the creature she'd called a hollow. The large man and I stopped as a young man with orange, spikey hair wearing a suit that same grey color as the woman's appeared and leapt on top of the hollow's head, knocking it face first onto the ground.

"Perfect timing, Ichigo, said the woman, greeting the newcomer.

"You act like you planned it this way," snapped Ichigo. "I thought you promised me you weren't gonna screw this thing all up."

"Well now," said the woman, smirking, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually care about what happens to me."

"Huh, I guess I do," said Ichigo, returning her smirk.

I took advantage of their conversation to retrieve my foeglass from my bag. The enchanted mirror showed images of my enemies. While this situation looked straightforward, I wanted to be sure who's side I was on now that there was a lull in the battle. The only face clear enough to make out was the white faced, green furred creature. Neither the bird, nor any of the humans were reflected. I nodded and dropped the mirror back in my bag just as Ichigo hopped backward from the hollow.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," the young man introduced himself. "Age fifteen. Substitute Soul Reaper. And if you really want to play some serious tag, I think it's me you ought to chase."

The woman pulled a red fingerless glove onto her hand with a serious expression on her face. More of the frog-like creatures popped out of various hiding places. I snapped my fingers and the air around the smaller creatures exploded, killing them and preventing the attempted ambush. The woman slammed her gloved palm into Ichigo's chest.

Ichigo's body collapsed. A second instance of Ichigo had been expelled in a burst of blue light. This second Ichigo was identical to the first except for his clothes and the fact that my normal eye couldn't see him. This Ichigo was dressed in a black, flowing outfit with baggy pleated pants, wide sleeves, and a white belt tied around his waist holding the top closed. Two toed white socks were worn under a pair of woven sandals. A heavy leather belt was strapped to his chest, holding the sheath of a sword as big as Ichigo to his back.

Ichigo wasted no time drawing that impractically large blade and slashing it one handed at the hollow, drawing blood from a shallow cut. I kept watch for the smaller creatures, eliminating them with flame alchemy before they could attack any of us. As Ichigo fought the hollow, the large man who couldn't see him fixed his gaze on the unconscious body and asked what was wrong with him. The woman reassured him Ichigo was fine, and said we should protect the bird.

Ichigo got the upper hand, placing his sword at the creature's neck. He held it there, poised to decapitate the creature and talked. My magic eye didn't come with sound, so I had no way to tell what was being said.

The bird, responding to something that was said, explained what had led us to this point. He had been a small boy named Yuichi. His mother had been murdered. Her killer had died in an accident shortly after and had come back as the monster we were fighting. The hollow had ripped the boy's soul out of his body and stuffed it into a bird. He'd made a deal. If Yuichi could evade him for three months, the hollow would bring his mother back to life.

It had been a lie. The creature couldn't make good on that promise and turned the chase into an opportunity to murder everyone who tried to help Yuichi. The large man had been the most recent one who'd tried to help.

Ichigo wavered as the story unfolded and the hollow was able to get the blade off his neck, but Ichigo recovered quickly and after a brief exchange slashed upward through the white carapace of the creature's face. Green light poured out of the wound Ichigo had opened up and the hollow's body wavered and started to lose cohesion like a defeated familiar or witch. It didn't completely disintegrate.

Instead, the white carapace that proved to have been a mask hiding a human face disintegrated as the green light shot upward forming a column. That column of light resolved into a pair of massive rectangular slaps with a gigantic skeletal torso sticking out of each slap. Their skulls were wrapped in white cloth, and the one arm each skeleton had gripped their slab at the point they were connected.

"Don't worry," said the woman. "They're the gates of hell, but they're opening only for him."

The slabs slid apart and chains holding it closed broke. Red light was visible in the realm they opened to. The woman calmly continued her explanation.

"The zanpakto can only wash away sins a soul has committed as a hollow. Those who commit terrible crimes while alive go to hell."

The hollow screamed in pain, and an enormous arm extended out from the gate and impaled the hollow on a blade. The arm pulled back, taking the hollow with it, and the gates slid closed. Once they slammed shut, cracks spread along them and they shattered, the pieces vanishing and any sign of the portal that had been there a moment ago vanishing with them.

With the battle over, I took a red stone from my pocket and used it to heal Loki's wounds as I regenerated my own.

"Just who are you?" asked the woman.

"My name is Greed," I said. "This is Loki. What's your name?"

"Rukia Kuchki," she replied. "How are you involved in all this?"

"I heard an explosion and came to see if anyone needed help," I said. "Speaking of which, it looks like he hit you with some of those leach bombs. Here." I held a red stone out toward her, but nothing happened. "There's something unusual about your body. I can't heal it."

"It's alright," said Rukia. "My injuries aren't severe." She turned to the bird and examined him while I healed the large man who's name was Yasutora Sado, or Chad for short.

"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do," said Rukia after a long moment. "His chain of fate has been severed. There's no sign of it. Without it, there's no way I can return him to his body."

"Oh no," said Yuichi.

"Don't be sad," said Rukia. "The Soul Society is a wonderful place that's very peaceful. You'll be happy there. You'll never be hungry and you'll never grow old. In fact it's a much better place to live than this world."

Ichigo said something I couldn't hear, but which comforted the boy more than Rukia had managed to. Yuichi turned to Chad and spoke.

"Mr. Sado, thank you for everything you did for me. You carried me everywhere in your arms and kept me safe and you were even brave enough to face a terrible monster and protect me from it."

"Hey, don't even mention it," said Chad.

"I guess it's time for me to go now," said Yuichi. "I don't know what else to say except thank you. All of you."

"Yuichi?" said Chad. "Someday, when I die and pass over too, would it be okay with you if sometimes I carried you around again?"

Yuichi's spirit, now visibly separated from the bird body smiled. Ichigo got to his knees and tapped Yuichi's forehead with the hilt of his sword. A blue sigil glowed where the sword had touched, and Yuichi dissolved into the ground amid more blue light. That light coalesced into a black butterfly that flew off into the sky.

That done, Ichigo sheathed his sword and leaned down over his body. Blue light shone briefly as the black clothed figure vanished and the grey suited young man stood back up.

"Thanks for helping out with that hollow," said Ichigo, shaking my hand.

"What was that power you used to fight it?" asked Rukia. "I don't sense any spirit energy from you."

"It's called alchemy," I said. "It's the science of understanding matter, breaking it down, and rebuilding it as something else."

"I don't think I've ever heard of that," said Rukia.

"I don't think I've ever heard of hollows and soul reapers either," I said. "And that boy's spirit looked different from the ghosts I've seen before. You described the afterlife, the Soul Society, like you've really been there. I have so many questions."

Rukia smiled nervously and took a step back from my eagerness for information. "Here, I think this will answer your questions," she said taking a device that looked like a cigarette lighter out of her pocket and held it up. Chad and I leaned closer to get a better look.

Rukia clicked the button and I saw what looked like a stylized plastic bird head on a spring pop out amid a cloud of white smoke. The next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground with Loki whining and nudging me with his nose to wake me up. That device had hit me with the equivalent of a stunning spell and an obliviate. Fortunately, I'd been able to protect my memories using occlumency. I verified I hadn't been robbed then pulled my foeglass out.

"Funny, boy," I mused, petting my dog with my free hand. "The foeglass still doesn't think they're our enemies. Doesn't mean we won't give them a piece of our minds about trying to memory wipe us."

* * *

Author's comments:  
Greed's quest to heal Sloth has brought him to the world of Bleach. With the afterlife accessible to those who haven't yet died and the properties of the soul well documented and studied, it isn't a question of whether the answers he needs are here, but what he'll need to do to get them.


	2. Chapter 2: The Artificial Soul

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 2) The Artificial Soul  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

The grey clothes Ichigo and Rukia had been wearing were uniforms for a high school nearby. I set up an underground lab near the school and brewed a confusing concoction. The potion would make the individual dosed with it more open to suggestion. I adopted the form of a fifteen year old using my shape shifting powers, snuck into the high school under my invisibility cloak, and dosed the principle's coffee, then revealed myself once he'd taken a drink. From there it was easy to convince him I was a transfer student and to be placed in the same class as Ichigo, Rukia, and Chad.

Loki stayed behind at the lab when I went into class the next day. To avoid drawing attention, I removed the magic false eye that allowed me to see through invisibility effects and put it in my bag. I regenerated my organic right eye and stepped into the classroom. Rukia wasn't there, Chad had his memory of our meeting erased, and Ichigo just didn't recognize me after making myself younger and removing the blue false eye.

"Hello everyone," I said, bowing to the class. "My name is Marcus Oren. I'm an exchange student from Great Brittan. I'm pleased to meet you."

The students were friendly and asked a lot of questions about my old school. Leaving out the magic aspect, I answered their questions by referring to my time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was surprising how easy it was to speak of my time there generally enough that no one questioned it.

Since the whole point was to gain more information about Ichigo and Rukia, I paid particular attention to Ichigo's social circle. He was friends with Chad, as well as an excitable, brown haired young man named Keigo and a short, easygoing black haired boy named Mizuiro. An athletic girl with black spikey hair named Tatski was apparently his oldest friend.

As for Rukia, she'd apparently showed up as a transfer student a couple of weeks ago. She'd apparently become quite popular rather quickly. There were rumors she and Ichigo were romantically involved since they'd been hanging out together without anyone else since she arrived.

"So, at your last school, were you like in a gang or something?" asked Keigo.

"Some people seemed to think so," I said good naturedly. "My friends and I actually ended up in the papers, with the reporter calling us 'The Seven Deadly Sins'. I was Greed."

That last bit sparked recognition by Ichigo, who took me by the shoulder, excused us, and half dragged me out of the classroom.

"What do you think you're doing here? What happened to your eye? And are you shorter?"

"I told you I'm an alchemist," I said. "I can manipulate matter. My body happens to be made of matter. As to what I'm doing here, Rukia tried to erase my memory when I was asking questions. I'm here to try to find the answers to those questions and to give Rukia a piece of my mind about that attempted memory wipe."

"Look, none of my classmates know what's been going on," said Ichigo. "I've been trying to keep them out of this stuff with soul reapers and hollows. Could you please, just leave them out of it?"

"Ichigo! There you are... Greed?" said Rukia as she approached us.

"How the hell did you recognize him like this?" demanded Ichigo.

"What do you mean?" asked Rukia. "He's wearing different clothes but he didn't even change his hair."

"Look, can we talk for a minute?" I asked.

"Maybe later," said Rukia. "I actually need to talk to Ichigo about something in private right now."

As she dragged Ichigo off, I took my silver pocket watch out and noted the time, then I returned to the classroom. It was about fifteen minutes before Ichigo returned, and he was acting strangely. He entered through the class room's third story window and looked at the class like they were strangers, even needing to ask if he was in the right place.

He flirted shamelessly with all his female classmates, even planting a kiss on his childhood friend Tatski. While Tatski yelled at him and started tossing desks and chairs at him out of anger, I covertly inserted the Mad Eye into my eye socket. As the magical device could see through matter, I kept my hand over that eye to conceal it. There was no sign of anything invisible that might explain Ichigo's change in behavior.

Rukia burst into the classroom to confront Ichigo. As she was blocking the door, Ichigo looked to the window he'd entered through as a possible means of escape. Then a second Ichigo came in through that window. This second Ichigo was invisible to normal sight, wore flowing black garments, and had an enormous sword strapped to his back.

This was Ichigo's soul separated from his body like it had been during the fight with the hollow. Apparently, something else was inhabiting his body. As he wanted to retrieve his body intact, Ichigo didn't draw his sword and fought his body hand to hand. He was holding back so much, however, that he got kicked across the room, knocking over desks as he went.

I stomped my foot and transmuted a pair of hands out of the wooden floor material to grab the ankles of Ichigo's body, but he proved fast enough to dodge them and leapt out the window. Ichigo followed after.

Rukia paused at the window and stared after them. With her eyes widening with concern, Rukia called the possessing entity a mod soul and rushed out the door to catch up with Ichigo. I was about to follow when I caught sight of a second me already in pursuit of Ichigo at ground level. Recognizing what that meant, I stayed put and transmuted the floor back to normal.

Tatski was still pissed, but a girl with long orange hair named Orihime correctly guessed, based on his odd behavior and lack of recognition, that it wasn't Ichigo they'd just seen, but rather a lookalike. Tatski calmed down with that explanation, and there was some speculation about how the desks Ichigo's spirit had knocked over had seemingly moved on their own.

Checking my pocket watch some time later, I stepped out of the classroom, took my invisibility cloak from my bag, covered up, and used the time turner hidden inside the watch to go back in time to when Rukia had dragged Ichigo off to speak privately. This time, I followed them outside.

Rukia tossed Ichigo a small, plastic candy dispenser with the words "Soul Candy" written on it and a plastic cartoon duck's head on the top. She explained that the dispenser contained a pill that, when swallowed, expelled the user's soul and left a substitute soul in its place to take care of the body. When questioned about the name on the dispenser and the cutesy design, Rukia got defensive and attributed it to pressure from the Soul Reaper Women's Association.

At Rukia's prompting, Ichigo swallowed a small, round, green pill from the dispenser. His soul reaper spirit was expelled and his body got up and introduced itself with a pleasant smile that looked strange on the usually serious Ichigo's face. As they talked, Rukia got a message on her cell phone. It contained word about a hollow and orders to deal with it.

I stayed with the mod soul in Ichigo's body. His pleasant smile became a mischievous smirk and he started stretching out Ichigo's body and getting a feel for it. Then he hopped on his toes lightly and kicked a short metal barrier leaving it a twisted mass of metal. Given the number of kicks from this guy Ichigo had taken, I adjusted up my assessment of the durability of Ichigo's soul reaper form.

A teacher appeared to confront Ichigo for being out of class, but the mod soul simply took a superhuman leap over the teacher's head and onto a nearby roof, chuckling to himself the whole way. The good news was that he didn't seem violent. He'd only attacked Ichigo when cornered, and only pressed it far enough to escape. Unfortunately, it was also obvious he had no intention of returning Ichigo's human body.

At the speed he was moving, there was no way I could keep up and stay hidden under my invisibility cloak. Of course, I knew where he was going. I took an alternate path and arrived on the ground outside the classroom window.

When Ichigo arrived, he leaped from the ground to the third floor window in a single bound. It wasn't just the strength of his superhuman leap that was impressive, but also his accuracy. At the distance he started his jump from, the classroom window was a remarkably small target but he made it in one try.

After they leapt down, I joined in the chase, stuffing my invisibility cloak back in my bag as I went. Rukia rode on Ichigo's back during the initial stages of pursuit. The transmutation circles on my shoes improved the traction I was getting and increased the elasticity of the ground, further enhancing the already superhuman speed of my red stone powered homunuculus body. It was enough to keep pace with Ichigo, but his body was going eve faster still and he lost us in a warehouse.

The three of us looked around, seeking some indication of which way he'd gone. Rukie was the first to admit, "We're at a dead end here."

Ichigo went into hysterics, ranting in words I couldn't hear, but Rukia could easily hear and respond to. Based on only Ichigo's gestures and Rukia's side of the conversation, most of the freak out seemed to be about the mod soul using his body to come on to his classmates. Then, his expression became serious as he asked a question.

"A while back, the Soul Society initiated a new project they called Spearhead," answered Rukia. "Yes, they took souls that had been modified for combat and placed them into the dead after their own souls had passed. They were to be used as soldiers against the hollows. It was a reprehensible plan."

Rukia sketched some visual aids with a set of markers, including a flip book. They didn't really add anything to the explanation, and when Ichigo seemingly insulted her artwork, she punched him and drew on his face.

"All of the souls that were selected to take part in the Spearhead project were then altered," Rukia continued. "Once inside a body, one aspect of their host is made superhuman. An artificial soul, built for battle, a mod soul. Do you understand this so far?"

"Yes," I said. "I've seen something like it before."

"Where?" asked Rukia.

"I'll agree to answer your questions if you'll agree to answer mine," I said. "We should probably wait until Ichigo has his body back, though."

"Very well," said Rukia, who then continued with her explanation. "The Spearhead project was rejected because it would force corpses to fight. In the end, all of the mod, or modified, souls that were still in the incubation stages were ordered to be destroyed, however it seems some are still out there."

Ichigo looked at Rukia and said something with a serious expression.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," said Rukia.

Ichigo got louder and more agitated.

Rukia replied, "Whether I accept it or not is irrelevant. The mod souls must be destroyed. The Soul Society commanded it. And lest you forget, the laws of the Soul Society are not arbitrary. They have been put in place for the protection and well being of all human souls."

"Creating a slave army, then committing a genocide to clean up once you've got cold feet seems pretty arbitrary to me," I said, taking a deck of tarot cards out of my bag and shuffling them. "I'll help you find Ichigo's body and get it back, but I won't be a party to destroying an innocent being just because the Soul Society or anyone else commands it." Drawing several cards, I looked them over and replaced the deck in my bag. "We'll find him at an elementary school. Let's go."

* * *

Ichigo was skeptical about the value of my tarot reading, but lacking other leads, he led us to the nearest elementary school where the mod soul in his body was seemingly about to attack a group of boys. Ichigo got in the way and started fighting him again. I watched for an opportunity. If Ichigo could stun the mod soul, even temporarily, I could bind him. They were moving too fast for me to try it while the fight was ongoing.

When the mod soul made a break for it again, we were distracted by Rukia's phone. "Ichigo, hold it!" she shouted. "We have an order. We've got a hollow alert here. We have to leave now! Let's move."

"I'll keep tracking him," I assured Ichigo, taking out my tarot cards. The cards said I was already where I needed to be, so I rounded a corner to get out of view of the kids, pulled on my invisibility cloak, and returned to wait.

What appeared wasn't the mod soul, but a creature that resembled a gigantic purple millipede. It had the same white mask covering its face and a hole through the center of its torso as the monster I'd fought earlier. This one wasn't even remotely humanoid, but it was another hollow. The three kids couldn't see it, but it couldn't see me either.

The hollow lunged toward the kids and I stomped my foot. A dozen stone spikes formed out of the sand and launched at the hollow, trailing blue sparks of alchemic light. As the spikes flew, the mod soul flew at the hollow from a different direction. He delivered a kick that knocked the hollow away from the kids, but was struck by one of my spikes.

Neither of us had known the other was there, and we'd both tried to save the kids at the same time. As a result, Ichigo's left arm hung useless at his side and his shoulder was bleeding profusely. The kids took off running.

"Sorry! My bad!" I called out to him.

The hollow attacked us both, lashing out with extendible tentacles. I formed the Ultimate Shield over my body, shifting my appearance to that of a bald, grey skinned demon as the carbon in my skin transmuted into diamond hard armor. The mod soul charged the hollow, kicking aside its tentacles. A lucky shot on his wounded side caused him to be batted away.

I got to his side and held out a red stone toward him. The wound on his shoulder closed and he got back to his feet. We turned and faced the hollow side by side.

"Are you another mod soul?" he asked.

"No. I'm something different," I said. "We'll talk more when we're done with him."

I stomped and drove more spikes through the hollow's body. Those tentacles continued to lash out, however, preventing the mod soul from getting in close to use his superhumanly strong legs to land a kick. Then Ichigo arrived, severing one of those tentacles with his enormous sword. With Ichigo clearing the tentacles and my spikes holding the main body in place, the mod soul rushed in and finished it with a powerful kick.

After the hollow's body dissolved, the four of us went up to a nearby roof to talk. The mod soul explained what we already knew. The day he was born, the Soul Society issued him a death sentence. He'd been aware and afraid at the time, but helpless inside his pill. By pure good fortune, he'd been accidentally mixed in with a shipment of goods, hence his coming to us.

"I was alone for what seemed like years," he said. "I had quite a while to think about how things should be. And you know what I feel? I decided no one has the right to take someone's life away. I exist, and I should have the right to live my life for as long as I want to. Like humans, I deserve that. So, I refuse to take a life. That's the reason why I will never kill any living creature."

"Well, look who we have here," came a voice. I turned and saw a man with messy blond hair under a green and white striped bucket hat, wearing a green long coat and wooden sandals. When he stepped, his sandals made a loud clopping sound, but I hadn't heard him approach. He carried a wooden cane and approached the mod soul saying, "So, finally we find you. And what a picture. You're all beat up and worn out. All that trouble for nothing."

The newcomer pointed his cane at the head of Ichigo's body and poked. The cane passed through his flesh harmlessly and the green pill popped out the back of his head. Ichigo's body collapsed and the newcomer picked up the pill.

He casually strolled over to a group of people I also hadn't heard coming. There was a large, dark skinned man wearing glasses and an apron, sporting dreadlocks and a handlebar mustache, a girl who looked about ten with black hair done up in pigtails at the side of her head and two long bangs drooping between her eyes past her nose who was carrying a tall wrapped package on her back bigger than she was, and a red haired boy with a heavy looking iron club.

"Mission accomplished," said the man in the hat. "We're done. Let's go home."

"What?" demanded the red haired boy. "Come on! I came here to have a real fight and that's all I get?"

"You'll get that fight if you're planning on taking him away to be destroyed," I said.

Looking through the back of my head, I could see Ichigo shifting into position to back me up while I kept my organic eye on the strangers. Rukia snatched the pill casually out of the man's hand and addresed him in a calm tone.

"I believe this is mine. Thanks."

"Miss Kuchki, you can't have that," said the man in the hat.

"Why can't have it, Kiske?" asked Rukia. "Are you saying it's your policy to seize goods that your customers have already paid for?"

"Hey, I'll give you a full refund," said Kiske. "How does that sound to you?"

"That's okay," said Rukia. "I'm completely satisfied with my purchase. Besides, I know and you know that you're operating outside the law. And I also know it's not your job to recall this mod soul."

"I just hope you know what you're getting involved in," said Kiske. "So don't blame me if you get into trouble."

"I won't," said Rukia, turning her back on Kiske. "I've already dealt with a lot of trouble since I've been here." Rukia handed Ichigo the pill and led us away.

* * *

"Okay, now that everyone got out of that alive," I said as Ichigo, Rukia, and I walked down the street, Ichigo back in his body, me in my fifteen year old appearance with the Mad Eye put away, "I'm ready to trade information."

I took a device that resembled a car antenna out of by bag and leaned it casually over my shoulder. "This is a secrecy sensor," I said. "If either of us lies or tries to hide something, it'll vibrate. I'm a six foot tall duck." The device vibrated as a demonstration.

"Where did you get all these devices?" asked Rukia.

"In a parallel universe," I explained. "I travel between worlds using a gateway I can summon. I'm an explorer most days, traveling between worlds to learn, but I came to this world for a purpose."

"And what's that?" asked Rukia.

"Whether I tell you or not depends on how you answer my questions," I said. "What are hollows?"

"Very well," said Rukia. "The hollows were once the souls of humans, no different from any other. While alive, a person's soul is connected to their body by the chain of fate. On death, the chain of fate snaps. You saw the remains of the chain of fate on Yuichi, the boy who's soul had been placed in the cockatiel."

"The chain of fate is a literal chain?" I said, recalling the length of chain coming out of the center of Yuichi's chest.

"That's right," said Rukia. "Over time, the chain fo fate erodes away in a process we call encroachment. The process can take years, though it can be sped up by experiencing strong negative emotions like depression or loneliness. There's no known way to reverse the encroachment process. If a soul isn't sent to the Soul Society by a konso, the chain of fate will fully erode and the soul will become a hollow.

"The hole in a hollow's chest shows that they have lost their heart. A hollow's mask protects the naked instinct that is left behind after the loss of their heart. Hollows are driven to consume other souls in a vain effort to fill the hole in their being."

"And as far as you know, this is a natural process?" I asked.

"Why wouldn't it be?" asked Rukia, her eyes widening.

"I've traveled between worlds and never encountered hollows before," I said. "I've met ghosts, but they're translucent beings visible to normal humans and intangible to solid matter. No sign of chains on their chests or masks on their faces. I have seen powerful supernatural beings born of human souls that have fallen to despair, but those were a result of deliberate tampering."

"That sounds very strange," said Rukia.

"Soul reapers don't have masks or chains," noted Ichigo.

"No," agreed Rukia. "Souls that have passed on to the Soul Society don't have chains or risk encroachment either. That's why it's so important for soul reapers to perform konso and send them on."

"Yuichi's soul became attached to the body of that bird," I said. "I once theorized ghosts in a previous world were the result of having their souls attached to a kind of substance unique to that world. If that's what happened, I wouldn't see a chain of fate, right?"

"It is possible, but it's impossible to say for sure," said Rukia. "Is there anything else?"

"Just one more question," I said, "and I hope you'll understand hwy I have to ask. What you told Yuichi about the Soul Society. Was it true?"

"The Soul Society is a wonderful place," affirmed Rukia. "It isn't perfect. There is crime and hardship, but the only souls that feel hunger at all are those with high spirit energy, and are the same ones highly valued to be recruited and trained as soul reapers. The ordinary souls there are protected from hollows by the soul reapers."

"Okay," I said, looking at the completely still secrecy sensor. "Thank you for putting my mind at ease. The reason I came to this world is someone I care deeply about had their soul... altered."

I took a Grief Seed out of my bag and held it out to Rukia. It wasn't Sloth's. Even after that conversation, I wasn't risking hers. "The process she went through was like she'd been turned into a mod soul, then hollowfied inside the pill. Is there anything you can do?"

"I wouldn't even know where to begin," admitted Rukia. "I'd suggest showing it to the Soul Reaper Department of Research and Development, but with the Soul Society ordering the destruction of all mod souls..."

I nodded and put the Grief Seed away. "It was worth a try. I know someone in this world can help, so I'll just have to keep looking."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help her," said Rukia.

"Hold on," said Ichigo. "You said a zanpakto can cleanse a hollow and send it on to the Soul Society. Shouldn't it be as easy as cutting that thing open with my sword?"

"It's too dangerous when we don't know what was done to alter the soul," said Rukia. "That might destroy the soul entirely if what happened isn't similar enough to hollowfication."

"It was a good thought," I told Ichigo, patting him on the shoulder. "You don't have to worry about me. I'll see you around."

* * *

Back at my secret underground lab, I greeted my dog, who'd been left alone all day. While giving him all the pets, cuddles, and affection he could ask for, I told him about my day, and everything I had learned.

"So, it sounds like the soul reapers have a science division that might have what we need to get Sloth back. No idea how we're going to get access to their records, but if we can manage it, there might be enough to reverse what happened to her."

Leaving Loki in the main living area, I setup a lot more philosopher's flowers in the environmentally sealed portion of my lab. I intended to use those flowers to produce enough red stones to make me stronger and faster than Ichigo in his soul reaper form. It would be about a week before they were ready.

That done, I returned to the living area, sat down on my couch, and turned on the television. After finding a sufficiently interesting program, I switched off the sound. I could use my magic eye to see spirits, but couldn't hear them. The obvious next step was to learn to lip read.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Kon gives a good introduction to the general ethical situation going on in the Bleach universe. Rukia works for the Soul Society and believes in their general principles of law and order, but the mod soul genocide isn't something she can really defend when it gets down to it. As to Sloth, it wasn't going to be as easy as cutting open a Grief Seed with a zanpakto, but Greed's right that the answer is in this world.


	3. Chapter 3: Spirit Hunter

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 3) Spirit Hunter  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

The next day in class, nobody remembered Ichigo's odd behavior the previous day. Obviously, Rukia had tampered with their memories again. This seemed to be a common practice among supernatural beings with memory altering powers no matter what world they were in. It still bothered me. Rukia hadn't done it maliciously, but an honest explanation about what had happened seemed like a better answer to me. I didn't press the issue.

When Ichigo arrived, he was acting unusually friendly, to the point his friends commented on it being odd. I took Rukia aside and asked, "Is that the mod soul in his body again?"

"No," said Rukia. "Kon's inside a stuffed lion plushie back at Ichigo's house."

"Kon?" I asked.

"It's the name we decided on for the mod soul."

"Okay," I said. "So, why is Ichigo acting like that?"

"I have no idea," sad Rukia.

"Hm," I said. "I guess I'll leave him be. If there's anything you guys need, let me know."

Rukia didn't get any orders or hollow alerts that day. Since I was already familiar with the course material, I spent hte day organizing my notes and observations about soul reapers, hollows, and mod souls using a cypher that made it look like I was taking notes for class. At lunch, I asked Rukia to push the soul out of one of my Grief Seeds using the red fingerless glove she used to push Ichigo's soul out of his body. It didn't work, but it had been worth a try.

* * *

Ichigo and Rukia didn't come to school the next day. Asking around, no one could say one way or the other where Rukia was, but it turned out today was the anniversary of the death of Ichigo's mother, and that his family made an annual visit to her grave. That explained Ichigo's odd behavior the previous day.

I wondered what it meant for a soul reaper to have dead loved ones. Could Ichigo go to the Soul Society to visit her? That train of thought led me back around to a number of things I still didn't understand. Foremost among them, why was Ichigo the one fighting hollows and performing konsos when he needed Rukia to explain everything about being a soul reaper to him?

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Keigo, who got my attention, did an odd gesture involving crossing his arms over his chest and curling his fingers toward his shoulders and called out, "Bwa ha ha!"

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Wait, you seriously don't know where that's from?" demanded Keigo.

"No," I said.

"Spirit Hunter!" exclaimed Keigo. "It's the most popular TV show in Japan! How could you not have heard of it?"

"I'm an exchange student," I reminded him. "Does that show even air in Brittan?"

"I'm not really sure," said Mizuiro contemplatively as Keigo deflate. "The ratings in Japan are twenty five percent, but internationally, I'm not sure."

"So, what about this show?" I asked Keigo.

"Not that you would care," said Keigo getting up off the floor, "but they're shooting an episode right here in Karakura Town, down at the abandoned hospital."

"So what is this Spirit Hunter show about?" I asked.

"Oh, I love that show," said Orihime, entering into the conversation. "It follows the adventures of the superhero Don Kanonji as he battles evil spirits and protects the innocent."

"Evil spirits?" I asked.

"He's a medium, so he can see things the rest of us can't," explained Keigo. "But even though the spirits are invisible, you can see the things they do. Sometimes there are footprints that don't look human at all. Other times they try to fight him by throwing things at him. It's awesome!"

"We're planning on going down to the hospital tomorrow to watch it live," said Mizuiro. "Keigo was trying to invite you along."

Keigo's description sounded a lot like what I'd been seeing around Ichigo and Rukia. I smiled and said, "Sure, I'd love to come along and see."

* * *

"A hollow attacked at his mother's grave?" I asked the next day before classes started.

"That's right," said Rukia. "And not just any hollow. It was the hollow that killed Ichigo's mother seven years ago. We call him Grand Fisher, and he's been able to evade the Soul Society for over fifty years. Ichigo fought him and drove him off, but Grand Fisher escaped."

"That's awful," I said. "If I'd been there-"

"Nothing would have changed," said Rukia firmly. "Ichigo refused help fighting Grand Fisher, so the only thing that would have changed is one more person would have seen a battle he thinks of as a failure. I'm telling you this so you won't ask Ichigo about yesterday. He took it pretty hard."

"Sure," I said. "Hopefully he'll feel better when he hears Spirit Hunter is filming an episode in Karakura Town."

* * *

Ichigo turned out to be more annoyed than enthused about the show coming here. Attempts by Keigo, Mizuiro, Chad, Orihime, and Rukia to get him excited about it only served to annoy him further.

"Do you not like Spirit Hunter?" I asked him when he withdrew from the others who were doing the "Bwa ha ha" gesture at each other.

"My dad and my sister Yuzu love Spirit Hunter," said Ichigo. "Me, I can't stand shows like that."

"How come?" I asked.

"I've been able to see spirits since I was little," said Ichigo. "Since way before Rukia made me a soul reaper. And I don't like the idea of people trying to make money off something people can't see for themselves. They have no idea if this Don Kanonji is really doing what he says he is."

"I think I understand," I said. "Years ago, a man came to my town claiming to be a prophet. He showed off powers he claimed were miracles from God that proved he was a holy man. It turned out, he was a con man, trying to turn us into his own private army. His so-called miracles were just him using alchemy. I studied it myself because I didn't want to be fooled again."

As I spoke, I felt something probing at my occumency barriers. It was seeking to draw the memories I was describing to the surface. I let images of Father Cornello's masses rise up, and allowed the scene of the Elric brothers exposing Cornello as a fraud to replay before my mind's eye. Then I forced an image of myself saying, "Have you seen enough of my memories yet?" to the surface directly in the way of the psychic intrusion. As I suspected, Ichigo jumped back.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded.

"Remember how Rukia couldn't erase my memory?" I asked. "I can protect my mind from being probed too."

"Probed? You mean I was reading your mind just then?"

I nodded. "My training let me detect your intrusion. I could have stopped it entirely, but even though I'm ashamed of having fallen for Cornello's lies, I don't have anything to hide about that time in my life. You really didn't know you were doing it?"

"No," affirmed Ichigo. "I mean, sometimes when I'm trying really hard to understand someone, I sort of imagine what they must've been through. That was all real?"

"I don't know about all of it," I said, "but that's what happened just now."

"You'd think if you were a mind reader, you'd know about that," said Ichigo. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," I said. "Just don't be offended if I block you out sometimes. It's nothing personal, but some of the stuff in my head is private, you know?"

"Yeah, no problem," said Ichigo. "Likewise, try not to be offended if I end up poking around in there anyway. I don't really know when I'm doing it or how to control it."

* * *

That evening, I took Loki down to the abandoned hospital where Spirit Hunter was being filmed. A large crowd of the town's residents had gathered. I was surprised to see Ichigo there after our conversation earlier that day, but as he was standing near an older man and two girls who looked about eleven, he'd probably sucked up his dislike for the show in order to appease his family.

Well, most of his family. While the black haired man I took to be Ichigo's father was excitedly making the "Bwa ha ha" gesture with the brown haired girl, the black haired girl looked annoyed and embarrassed to be seen with them.

I greeted my various classmates and introduced Loki around. As the production crew started moving everyone into position, a number of people started to look very nervous and uneasy, like they could hear something the rest of the crowd couldn't. I popped in the Mad Eye and looked around.

A spirit was there. It was a man with a chain of fate attached to his chest, wrapped around his wrists and around the building's structure, binding him to it. Where the chain attached to his chest, a hole had partly opened. Rukia identified the spirit as a demihollow, a transitional point between a normal, intact spirit, or whole, and a cannibalistic hollow. At this stage, a konso could still send him intact to the Soul Society without any issue. She further noted that it would take months for this transformation to complete unless someone deliberately messed with the hole in his chest. She made plans with Ichigo to come back after the show and perform the konso.

The show began with the entrance of Don Kanonji. He took to the stage by parachuting out of a helicopter. The man was dark skinned with black hair. He wore a black, fur trimmed hat, a black cape also trimmed in white fur, dark glasses with gold rims, and a pair of gold bracelets. He had a small, well groomed mustache and long dreads sticking out of his hat.

He was definitely a performer, warming up the crowd and hamming it up with wide gestures, loud, dramatic pronouncements, and catch phrases familiar to his audience. Once that was accomplished, however, he turned straight toward the demihollow and examined him. Don Kanonji, self proclaimed century's premiere spiritualist, actually could see spirits.

I couldn't make out all the details, but the demihollow seemed to be shouting in Don Kanonji's face, trying to drive him off with insults and intimidation. Then Don Kanonji did exactly the wrong thing. He took his cane and drove it into the hole in the demihollow's chest and started prying it open while proclaiming he was sending hm over to the other side.

Ichigo and Rukia hopped the rope barriers and rushed to stop Don Kanonji, but they were tackled by security. I rushed through the crowd, using my Ultimate Escape technique to pass through the bodies of the people in the crowd. Security wouldn't be able to stop me.

Then I ran into a person I couldn't pass through. The man who'd come to take Kon was there. He was wearing the same green coat, wooden sandals, and green and white striped bucket hat. And now I knew his body wasn't made of normal matter just like Rukia's wasn't. Moreover, colliding with him had been like running into a brick wall. He didn't even budge.

He casually poked Ichigo in the back of the head with his cane, and Ichigo was expelled from his body. In soul reaper form, the security staff weren't holding Ichigo down any more, and he wasn't visible to the crowd. Ichigo glanced back in confusion to see what had shoved him out of his body. The man who'd done it waved at Ichigo with a fan and said, "Hello. Don't just stand there like a lump. Get to work already."

While Ichigo rushed toward Don Kanonji, the large man who'd been backing up the man with the hat quickly retrieved Ichigo's body from security. I made sure I wasn't partly phased through anyone and got the attention of the man with the green coat and hat.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Oh, that's right," he said. "I haven't introduced myself. Kiske Urahara, owner and proprietor of the Urahara Shop."

"My name is Tessai," said the larger man with a bow.

"I'm Greed," I said.

While we got introductions out of the way, Ichigo knocked Don Kanonji away from the demihollow and started explaining what was going on. Unfortunately, the brief delay by seccurity meant Ichigo had arrived too late. The chain of fate shattered, and the demihollow cracked and exploded in a burst of light. Don Kanonji was celebrating, but Rukia wasn't. She had her cell phone out and was frantically checking something on it. It didn't take me long to see what she was checking for.

An orb of light descended to the roof of the hospital where strips of green flesh coalesced out of the air and formed the body of a froglike hollow, complete with a large round hole in its chest. At first, the face of the demihollow was visible on the creature's shoulders, but he screamed and vomited up a white substance that instantly hardened into his mask.

The hollow rushed down the building at Ichigo and Don Kanonji. I moved to step forward and lend a hand, but Kiske grabbed me by the shoulder saying, "A hollow of that level won't be a problem for Ichigo. He won't show up on the cameras, though. Best not to make too much of a fuss at the moment. Besides, it seems this Don Kanonji has a bit of power himself. Why don't we let them handle it?"

Ichigo had grabbed Kanonji and dragged him inside the hospital, luring the hollow inside in the process. I looked between Kiske and Rukia, then nodded tentatively. He was right. Ichigo has fought much stronger hollows than this one based on what I'd seen of the brief exchange before Ichigo had taken the fight inside the abandoned building. For now, I decided to focus on questioning Urahara. He beat me to the punch.

"So, your powers only function on ordinary matter. Is that right?"

"For the most part," I said. "Just what is it that you're made of?"

"Well, as you've probably guessed, the body I'm using to interact with people is an artificial shell called a gigai, same as Rukia uses."

"And they aren't made of matter," I said, "despite looking and acting a lot like normal matter to casual observation."

"The term is reshi, or spirit particles," said Urahara. "It's the same substance souls and spiritual dimensions like the Soul Society are made of."

"Tell me, is that what this is made of?" I asked, taking a Grief Seed out of my pocket. "I know it's not normal matter."

"Now this is interesting," said Urahara, taking it and examining it closely. "Do you mind me asking where you came by it?"

"I brought it with me from another universe," I said. "Can you tell me anything about it?"

"I can say I wouldn't want to run into whoever made it in a dark alley," replied Kiske. "It's mainly composed of reshi, but I also recognize some advanced materials I've only ever seen in experimental quantities."

He tossed the Grief Seed back to me, then added, "If I were you, I'd be very careful of who I showed that to."

At that point, the hollow caught up with Ichigo and Don Kanonji inside the hospital. The cramped quarters and Ichigo's impractically huge sword allowed the hollow to get a free shot in and prevented Ichigo from ending the fight quickly.

"I see. That eye does more than let you see spirits, doesn't it?" said Kiske. "Being able to look through walls is a very handy ability. I'd ask to borrow it so I could see the fight, but my eyes don't grow back when they're gouged out."

At that point, the hollow smashed through an outside wall on an upper floor and climbed to the roof. Ichigo's sword was stuck in its shoulder, and he was dragged along for the ride. Don Kanonji ran up the stairs to catch up.

On the roof, Ichigo unstuck his sword from the hollow's shoulder. Now in a more open area, he'd have less trouble, but a lucky shot by the hollow pinned him to a railing with a fast hardening goo spat from the creature's mouth. Don Kanonji intervened, holding the hollow's mouth open with his cane. He then clenched a fist and energy crackled around it as he yelled. Extending that palm toward Ichigo, a tiny ball of blue light appeared and drifted lazily toward Ichigo. When the ball touched the goo restraining him, it exploded with the force of a hand grenade, freeing Ichigo.

The hollow finally snapped the cane and batted Don Kanonji aside, but its lucky breaks ran out and Ichigo cut it down. As the hollow dissolved, the image of the man it had once been was briefly visible before it too faded away.

"Well, this has been an enlightening trip," said Urahara, adjusting his hat. "If you'd like to talk more, you should stop by my store some time. You won't find a better selection of imported Soul Society merchandise anywhere in the world of the living."

Kiske and Tessai walked off. I turned to Rukia and asked, "What's his deal?"

"Kiske is a Soul Society exile," explained Rukia. "His crimes earned him banishment from the Soul Society, but as he hasn't caused any real trouble in the past hundred years, we overlook his smuggling of Soul Society goods as long as he's willing to sell them to our agents on long term deployments to the world of the living."

"Where exactly is this shop?" I asked.

"I'll draw you a map," offered Rukia.

The resulting map was a crayon drawing of the streets with Kiske's shop marked by a cartoon bear wearing Kiske's hat. I thanked her, folded up the map, and headed back home with Loki. 

* * *

Once back at my lab, I jotted down notes on what I'd learned that day. Once I'd committed my observations to paper, I took out Sloth's Grief Seed and held it in my hands.

"Noah said your consciousness is dormant when you're like this," I said to the Grief Seed. "You don't have a body, so no ears anyway. But I wanted to tell you anyway, just in case. I'm getting closer to understanding what happened to you. I'm... I'm sorry it's taking so long."

Once the tears started coming, there was no putting a lid back on those emotions. I'd held it together this far by focusing on the basic science and mechanics of souls as this world understood them. But one more day coming home to an empty lab and the absence she left in my life was finally impossible to ignore.

"We were supposed to be exploring worlds together," I said, wiping my nose. "By the time I've learned enough to fix you, will there be any mysteries here left for us to explore together? Will I figure it out soon enough for you to meet Ichigo, and Rukia, and Kon?

"The Gate said I'd find the answer in this world, and I won't give up until I find it. So, if it takes a long time, I don't want you to worry. I love you, and... and I miss you."

Putting his head on my lap, Loki offered his presence, for which I was intensely grateful. I stroked his head and said, "You died, but I forged a Philosopher's Stone and brought you back. This is going to be harder, but we'll get her back too."

Realizing I was going to be useless for any task that involved thinking straight, I went to bed. When I woke up the next morning, I felt a wince of pain on noticing once again that Sloth wasn't beside me, then I set about my morning routine.

I jotted down what I could remember of last night's dreams in my bedside journal. I'd analyze them for omens later. Next, I picked up the remembral I kept on my nightstand. The magical device, spelled to glow if I'd forgotten something, remained dark. I returned it to its stand content that I hadn't had my memories erased or tampered with.

Next, my eyes turned to my foeglass. The magic mirror showed me my enemies. In another universe, with no way to traverse the Gate, Kyubey was a distant, shadowy figure, distinguishable only by his unique profile. Other more humanoid figures had appeared in the glass since coming to this world. They were still shadowed and distant, impossible to distinguish features, but much closer than Kyubey. Two of the figures had been advancing over the past few days. Soon, they would be close enough that I'd be able to recognize them if I saw them in the real world.

"The good news is none of the people I've actually met are in there," I said aloud as I climbed out of bed.

I fed Loki, did a routine check of my garden, got cleaned up, and headed off to school.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Kiske is a scary intelligent person. It's easy to forget when you're used to him, but the way he breaks everything down with so little to go on is an incredibly unnerving thing.


	4. Chapter 4: The Last Quincy

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 4) The Last Quincy  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

At school, the socialization did me some good. It kept me from dwelling on my own angst. Class rankings had been posted, though I was too new to be included in them. I ended up explaining the Hogwarts house point system in the process of explaining that my previous school didn't handle rankings this way.

"You could figure out where you stood in a given class by comparing test scores, but we only ever compared against each other informally, when it came down to an individual basis," I concluded.

"But you definitely checked," said Tatski. "The way you're always taking notes, you know where you stood."

I blinked and responded, "My House, Ravenclaw, had a long standing reputation and legacy of brilliant academics and exceptional scholars. I had to keep you that reputation. I was usually neck and neck with my friend Hermione from Gryffindor house for the top spot in any given class."

"So, was she your girlfriend?" teased Tatski.

My mood turned on a dime. I felt like I'd been stabbed in the chest. "No, Tatski. She wasn't," I said in a deliberately even voice. She didn't know she'd hit a sore spot and she didn't deserve to be snapped at. "Hermione was a good friend who was dating another good friend of mine named Ron. The girl I was with... Sloth... something happened to her."

"Oh, Greed, I'm sorry," said Tatski.

"You didn't know," I said. "It's still pretty raw for me. It happened just before I transferred."

"And you had to come to a new school full of strangers, put on a happy face, and try to fit in," said Orhimie. "That's so sad."

"Being around people's helped," I assured her.

The subject was thankfully dropped, but I was still feeling moody. When Rukia's phone alerted her to a hollow, I followed them as they followed the signal.

"Do you mind if I take the first crack at this one?" I asked as we went. "I really need to work out some frustration, and pounding a hollow into the dirt feels like just the thing to improve my mood."

It was a moot point, however. The hollow had vanished by the time we arrived. The whole it had apparently been pursuing explained that someone else had defeated the hollow before we arrived. Ichigo performed a knoso on the whole and we pondered the mystery.

* * *

That evening, I followed Rukia's map to the Urahara shop. It was a small, shabby convenience store that I would have walked right by thinking it an abandoned building were it not for Rukia's map and the two children out front. It was the girl and boy who had come with Urahara when he came to collect Kon.

"Hello, again," I said as I approached.

"You," said the red haired boy, taking a combat stance. "Are you here to pick a fight? Come on, I'll take you on."

"Jinta, he just said hello," said the black haired girl. Her voice was quiet and meek, even when correcting the boy.

"You're so stupid, Ururu," Jinta loudly declared. "This guy was itching for a fight last time, and you think just because he said 'hi' anything's changed?"

"She's right," I said. "I'm not here for a fight. I wanted to see what the store had in stock."

"You see, Jinta," said Ururu.

"Hmph," huffed Jinta. "It's just because he knows he'd get his butt kicked."

I smiled quietly and said, "Keep telling yourself that," as I walked by him toward the shop.

"Why you," said Jinta to my back. I wasn't wearing my magic eye that let me see through the back of my head, but I could hear him winding up to take a swing at me. He stumbled and tripped in his efforts to stop himself with the shop door opened revealing Tessai.

"Jinta, did you just try to attack one of the customers?" demanded Tessai.

"No! Of course not!" said Jinta backing away and waving his hands.

Not turning away from Tessai, I asked, "Would it be okay if I had a look around the store and browsed your merchandise?"

"Of course. Come right in," said Tessai. "If you're looking for the items from the Soul Society that the boss mentioned, you should step up to the counter. We don't keep those out with the regular merchandise."

I closed the door behind me and joined Tessai at the counter. "So, what exactly do you have?"

"We just got a new shipment in a few days ago, so we're pretty much fully stocked. We even still have the actual soul candy Miss Kuchki ordered before the mix up."

"I suppose that's as good a place to get started as any," I said. "What can you tell me about soul candies?"

"As I'm sure you're aware, soul candies are artificial souls. Swallowing one expels the original soul from its body and hte artificial soul takes its place. The one we have is the second most popular variety, Yuki the duck."

"Kon ran off in Ichigo's body. I take it that's not normal behavior?"

"Normal soul candies are given very simple personalities," explained Tessai. "They can fake being human for short periods of time, but they're too simple to develop the kind of inner life that leads to deciding to disobey or run away from their master. In the effort to create more capable fighters, the mod souls created by Project Spearhead were created with higher intelligence along with more independence and creativity."

"Sounds like the chessmen," I muttered to myself.

"Eh?" asked Tessai.

"Nothing," I said. "Can you tell me anything else?"

"The personality in this soul candy is brash and arrogant. Yuki's very popular with soul reapers who don't want to be perceived as weak or cowardly by any humans around when they have to leave their gigais."

"How are they made?" I asked.

"Spirit energy is infused into an empty pill and given the desired traits by manipulating that spirit energy. They're mass produced in the Soul Society, but we only have the one in stock."

"Mass produced artificial souls," I marveled. "I definitely came to the right place."

"So, are you interested in buying?"

"Yes. Do you have a gigai to put it in?"

"Of course. They're actually a specialty of Mr. Urahara's. Our available stock are all calibrated to human normal levels of ability."

"That sounds like a good starting point," I acknowledged. "Put me down for one of those, then."

"Very good," said Tessai, jotting notes on a small pad. "Given your other purchases, you might consider one of these." He put a fingerless glove identical to the one I'd seen Rukia use on the counter.

"Being able to get the pill back out of the gigai. Good point. I'll take that too."

Nodding, Tessai asked, "How will you be paying?"

"I haven't been around long enough to build up much local currency," I said. I reached into my bag and placed a gold bar on the counter. "How about I keep stacking these on the counter until you say to stop?"

"These aren't going to disappear are they?" asked Tessai suspiciously.

"No leprechaun gold here," I confirmed. "I'm not stupid enough to do something to get myself banned from the one shop in town for Soul Society goods. I plan to be a repeat customer."

"Jinta will be disappointed," noted Tessai. "He's always enthusiastic about going after deadbeats."

"So is there anything else I might want to buy while I'm here?" I asked.

"There is always a memory replacer and a soul phone," said Tessai, setting the two items on the table. "We also have spare fuel rods for both."

I looked the items over before handing the memory replacer back to him, saying, "I don't plan on messing with anyone's memories. Tell me more about the soul phone."

"Besides being a convenient, portable communication device that can send a signal to and from the Soul Society, it has a number of useful features like hollow detecting radar and a customizable ring tone."

"Sold," I said. "So, that'll be the soul candy, the gigai, the glove, and the soul phone. Once I go over the price, go ahead and fill out the rest of the order with spare batteries."

* * *

An invisibility cloak is handy for hauling something the rough size and shape of a human corpse through a city without drawing attention. Once I got my new things down to my lab, I laid the gigai out on the table and used the Mad Eye to look inside it and take notes on its anatomy. The degree to which spirit particles were analogous to matter was intriguing. Every system a normal human would have was perfectly duplicated in the gigai.

I introduced the soul candy and watched it move through the body. Although it was swallowed, the pill passed through the tissues without itneracting with them before lodging itself in a specific part of the brain. Once it was conscious, I interviewed it, verifying that it really was no more sentient than the pieces in a wizard chess set. It also had no problem with being removed and put into storage.

The gigai could eat and drink, get tired, and most interestingly, had the same reaction to potions and drugs as a normal human. I couldn't heal Rukia's injuries using alchemy, but a potion or two could do the job almost as well. I'd need to remember to keep some healing potions on me in case she got injured in combat again. I should also test if they worked on Ichigo's soul reaper form.

I was up all night experimenting, so I put everything away, cleaned up using alchemy, and headed off to school. Rukia had cut school again, but Ichigo was there to explain that the previous evening, he and Rukia had met the mysterious hollow hunter who'd beaten them to the punch on another hollow. After racking his brains for the name, Orhime wandered by and asked if he was talking about Uryu Ishida, the top student in our class and a member of the home handicrafts club.

It turned out that was him. After separating from Orihime, Ichigo explained that in their encounter the night before, Uryu had identified himself as a Quincy and declared that soul reapers were his enemies.

"What's a Quincy?" I asked.

"You think I know?" said Ichigo. "Rukia'd never heard of them, so she went off to get more information."

Uryu was pale and thin with blue black hair and glasses. He wore a cross on his right wrist that Ichigo reported had served as a focus when he'd summoned and fired a bow of blue spirit energy that had destroyed a hollow in one hit from several blocks away. I used the Mad Eye to observe him from behind a wall. Uryu was in a bad mood, such that the other members of the handicrafts club reacted with surprise and concern at his cold behavior.

Putting my magic eye away, I asked around about Uryu. He'd apparently been in the school from the start rather than transferring in. He prided himself on his good academics and tended to keep to himself socially. The other members of the home handicrafts club told me he was very good with a sewing needle and had a flair for fashion. I turned up his birthday thanks to a girl with a crush on him that I could use to make up an astrology chart on him for more information.

* * *

On my way home, my new soul phone beeped, indicating the presence of a hollow. I flipped the device open. A dozen signals were displayed on the radar, with more appearing by the second.

"That can't be right," I said, putting in the Mad Eye.

I'd spoken too soon. Dozens of hollows were emerging from dark portals in the sky all over town. It was an invasion. In the distance, I saw a handful of blue bolts impact a like number of hollows, disintegrating them instantly. That must be Uryu fighting. Rukia's soul phone would've picked up the hollows too, so she and Ichigo were no doubt fighting too. It wouldn't be enough. With the number of hollows still increasing, even if they did win eventually, a lot of normal humans would be killed by soul eating monsters they couldn't see.

The others couldn't be everywhere at once, but I could. I made a note of the time displayed on my soul phone and rushed to the nearest concentration of hollows. It was going to be a long day.

Following my radar, I rounded a corner and spotted three large hollows of various descriptions. Now familiar with the nature and temperament of these creatures, I didn't hesitate. I stomped a foot and impaled all three of them on transmuted spikes. Their bodies were dissolving as I checked my radar for the next nearest group. With the first step away from this scene, I transmuted the spikes back into unblemished pavement.

The next pair were flying through the air. I raised the hand not holding up my phone, and a flame alchemy array drew itself on the back of my hand. I snapped my fingers, and a ball of transmuted gas inside the hole in each creature's chest exploded, blowing them to bits. The bits dissolved as I rushed toward the next signal.

For the next hour, I rushed from one signal to the next, destroying hollows as quickly as I could. Based on the readings my phone showed, there were other areas where hollows were being exterminated all over the city. Then, through my magic eye, I saw the sky crack open.

Ripping open a hole int he fabric of reality, a hollow the size of a skyscraper emerged. Its body was inky black, except for its white clawed hands, its white feet wearing pointed shoes, and a white mask with a long, pointed nose. I took out my pocket watch.

"So long, big ugly," I said to the monster. "You and me'll tangle in a bit. First, I need to deal with the small fries."

I twisted the knob on my watch, activating the time turner hidden inside it, and disappearing into the past. Deciding I'd deal with the giant hollow after I made sure everyone in town was safe from the regular hollows, I rushed off toward the nearest signal my phone detected.

I continued to fight like that for twelve hours, using my time turn and appearing in a different part of the city each time the giant hollow appeared. My homunculus body didn't experience fatigue, but alchemy can be exhausting when overused. Hours of high intensity combat qualified. After four hours, I had to resort to red stones to keep up this pace. Two hours after that, the handful of red stones I carried with me were drained of their power and reduced to crumbling powder.

Abandoning alchemy, I continued fighting the hollows using a combination of shape shifting attacks like the Ultimate Spear where I extended a sharpened, carbon hardened finger to pierce their bodies, and the raw brute strength of my homunculus body. Everywhere clothing covered, I kept the Ultimate Shield covering my body. Armoring the whole way up would draw attention, and the last thing I needed when fighting a seemingly endless army of invisible, soul eating monsters, was a crowd of gawkers who'd need to be protected as I rushed from signal to signal.

Once or twice a cycle, I managed to catch my breath and recover enough stamina that I judged I could manage a transmutation without passing out. If I'd realized how many of them there were, I could have paced myself better. As exhausted as I was, I was starting to worry about what I'd do when I allowed time to move forward and had to fight the giant hollow I saw briefly before each trip back in time.

A cluster of ten hollows surrounded a whole spirit. I was panting and out of breath. I could kill them hand to hand, but not before one of them could get to the victim. I tried tossing a loose pavement stone at one of their heads in an effort to draw their attention. That only caused about four of them to turn my way.

"Damn it," I said. "Fine. No choice then." I stomped and shoved the last of my energy through the transmutation circle on the sole of my boot. Blue arcs of alchemic light accompanied the emergence of ten concrete spikes impaling the hollows.

I collapsed to the ground. The whole ran off and most of the hollows dissolved. Unfortunately, one of the hollows hadn't been killed. I'd wounded it, but it pulled itself off the spike and turned toward me. I was too tired to move. I was barely still conscious, and that only by sheer force of will.

The hollow reached down an enormous hand and picked my limp body up. Its mouth opened wide, and I saw the second set of teeth for the human face behind the white skull like mask. Suddenly, I caught a flash of red out of the corner of my eye. Jinta, the boy from Urahara's shop swung a large iron club that took the hollow's head clean off. I slammed into the ground heavily as the hollow's body dissolved.

"Leave some for the rest of us, you jerk!" said Jinta. "Jeez, look at you. Try to kill them all yourself and now you can't even protect yourself."

"I'd've made that hollow choke on me," I said weakly.

"Just stay down, will you?" demanded Jinta, kicking me in the head.

"There's a big one coming," I said. "The size of a skyscraper. With a black cloak and a mask with a pointed nose."

"A menos grande," said Kiske. I turned my head and saw the others from Urahara's shop. "Menos grande is an amalgam of hundreds of hollows fused together into a single enormous entity."

"Are we going to need to step in?" asked Tessai.

"I don't think that'll be necessary," said Kiske. "I think we'll give Ichigo first crack at it. We'll just clear away the distractions for him."

"What should we do about him?" asked Ururu, pointing at me.

"Bring him up there so he'll have a good view," said Kiske, indicating a nearby roof. Then to me, he said, "Don't worry about what comes next. One way or the other, the menos grande'll be dealt with."

Ururu grabbed me by my collar and jumped, hauling me behind her as she leaped to the roof in a single bound. She sat me upright, leaning against a wall concealing the roof access stairway. Then she crossed her hands over her lap and bowed.

"Goodbye," she said, then jumped down with the others.

I hadn't regained enough strength to move by the time the menos grande ripped open the sky again. From my vantage point, I could see Ichigo and Uryu fighting lesser hollows below. Urahara and his team wiped out the smaller hollows the pair were fighting and pointed them at the menos grande that had now fully emerged.

Ichigo swung his blade at the monster's ankle and was kicked away without having done any real damage. Uryu drew back his glowing energy bow and fired an arrow at the enormous hollow's head, barely chipping its mask. The pair fell back to regroup and plan a new method of attack.

Something peculiar happened when Uryu touched the blade of Ichigo's sword. His bow more than trippled in size. Somehow, he was able to use Ichigo's energy to enhance his own. A new plan quickly took shape, and Uryu drew his bow with Ichigo's sword strapped to his head. Uryu's bow grew when Ichigo grasped his hilt and shrunk back down when he let go.

The menos grande wasn't idle. It opened its mouth and a ball of red energy gathered right in front of its face. Noticing the attack charging, Ichigo snatched his sword off Uryu's head and rushed toward the menos grande. The red ball released into a beam attack with the width of a small house, directed at Ichigo.

Ichigo held up his sword to block as the blast slammed into him like a tidal wave. An aura of light surrounded Ichigo and his sword, which visibly compressed under the force of the hollow's blast. Ichigo's compressed energy protected him from the attack and was still visible when the blast ended. As Ichigo slashed his sword in the vague direction of the hollow, his aura lanced out, following the path of his sword, gouging the flesh of the menos grande from the edge of its mask down to its ankle.

The menos grande stepped back toward the portal it had appeared from, gripping the edge and closing the sky around itself. Ichigo celebrated the hollow retreating, then his aura flared again and he collapsed. His sword lost cohesion as energy poured off his body. Uryu rushed in and put a foot on Ichigo's sword and began shooting arrows straight up into the sky. Eventually, Ichigo's aura calmed his sword regained cohesion, and both young men relaxed.

The danger was past. I closed my eyes and finally let myself pass out from exhaustion.

* * *

When I woke up, I was in unfamiliar surroundings. I was under a blanket on a sleeping mat in an empty room with rice paper walls. My bag was in a corner with my soul phone and pocket watch leaning against it. My clothes were gone, though the carbon hardened armor of the Ultimate Shield preserved my modesty as I got out from under the blanket.

The Mad Eye was still in my socket, and I used it to peer through the walls and figure out where I was. It turned out I was in a back room of Urahara's shop. Jinta and Ururu were outside arguing about chores. Kiske and Tessai heard me stirring and slid open a door and came in.

"Ah, you're awake, Greed," said Kiske. "We took you back here to check you for injuries once the menos grande withdrew."

"I presume you took off my clothes to check me over and they disintegrated," I said, concentrating for a moment and summoning a new school uniform onto my body. I also withdrew the Ultimate Shield.

"Given your abilities, I expected something like that was going on," said Kiske. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," I said. "I just exhausted myself. Is the invasion over?"

"Invasion?" asked Kiske chuckling. "What happened yesterday wasn't an invasion. It was a duel."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Perhaps it would be best if I started from the beginning," said Kiske, taking a seat and inviting me to do the same. "It all started hundreds of years ago when a tribe of spiritually aware humans called the Quincies trained themselves to fight hollows. The problem was, while soul reapers purify hollows with their zanpakto, allowing them to pass on to the Soul Society, Quincies destroyed the souls of hollows completely."

My eyes went wide. "I don't have a zanpakto. The hollows I killed... Did I-?"

"The Quincies' power to destroy souls was unique to them," Kiske assured me. "There are many techniques for killing hollows. Most techniques send the soul on in the cycle of reincarnation. The zanpakto ensures a soul who's sins aren't great enough to be destined for Hell passes on to the Soul Society. Most other techniques lead to the soul being reborn in one world or another with no memory of its former life. Only a Quincy arrow destroys utterly.

"Of course, the problem with the Quincies went beyond the fate of individual souls. It might help to think of the living world and the Soul Society as having a kind of gravity relative to one another based on the number of souls in each world. If one side were to become too heavy in souls relative to the other, the worlds would bleed into eachother, destroying both. By destroying the souls of hollows rather than allowing them to pass on, the Quincies risked this apocalypse."

"Did they know what their powers were doing?" I asked.

"Whether they were aware of it initially or not, they certainly knew after the soul reapers approached them and demanded they stop. What you have to realize is that the concerns about the balance of the worlds were distant and abstract compared to the immediate threat of hollows killing them and their loved ones. Add to that a philosophical divide with the Quincies naturally arguing that the monsters killing their families didn't deserve the peace of the Soul Society, and you can see why the Quincies refused to bow to the soul reapers' demands.

"There were many attempts at reconciliation over the years, at least as many failing as a result of soul reaper arrogance and lack of concern for the Quincies' postiion as the other way around. In the end, about two hundred years ago, the order came down to exterminate the Quincies. Wipe them out to the last man, woman, and child."

"But there were survivors," I said.

Urahara nodded. "A handful of pockets remained hidden at first. Even those numbers gradually dwindled as the soul reapers discovered them. Which brings us to Uryu Ishida.

"Most of this part I'm getting second hand. It was after I'd been banished from the Soul Society. Uryu's grandfather tried to reopen negotiations with the Soul Society, proposing that Quincies could act as first responders, protecting humans from hollow attacks by driving off or incapacitating hollows until a soul reaper could arrive on the scene and deliver the finishing blow. I don't know if the Soul Society seriously considered his proposals. Personally, I doubt it. They did put him under surveillance, though.

"The soul reapers watching him should have responded when a group of hollows attacked, but they didn't. As a result, Uryu had to watch his grandfather die because of the Soul Society choosing not to save him. As for Uryu, he might well be the last of his kind."

"That's awful," I said. "Even if it is slightly better justified than what the Soul Society did to the mod souls. But what does this have to do with what happened yesterday?"

"Uryu blames soul reapers for his grandfather's death," said Kiske. "He challenged Ichigo to a duel to prove Quincies were stronger than soul reapers. He used bait to lure in hollows and see who could kill them faster. It got a little out of hand."

"A little out of hand?" I demanded. "I was fighting for twelve hours straight and a menos grande showed up!"

"For what it's worth, I don't think Uryu intended anything like that many hollows to show up. The amount of bait he used really shouldn't have had that result. And he did save Ichigo's life in the end."

I sighed, picked up my things and said, "Thanks for making sure I was okay. I need to get to school so I can make Uryu apologize for that mess."

* * *

Uryu wasn't in class most of the morning. Ichigo and Rukia confirmed what Urahara had told me. Apparently, the two of them had learned the historical aspects from Kiske and had gotten the information about Uryu's grandfather from Uryu himself, who'd also confirmed what Urahara had told them about the history between the soul reapers and the Quincies.

Uryu arrived in the period before lunch, his hands and arms covered in bandages as a result of injuries sustained while stabilizing Ichigo's spirit energy after the fight with the menos grande. He lied poorly, claiming he'd fallen down some stairs. No one believed it, but no one challenged him on it either.

Lunch was the first chance I had to talk to Uryu directly. While Keigo drew everyone's attention with a long, rambling story about looking for a sushi place, Uryu gruffly told Ichigo he had no cause to feel guilty about his injuries. Ichigo responded in an equally unfriendly tone that Uryu's injuries had nothing to do with him being invited to join him for lunch and insinuated Uryu should be happy for the privilege. Once the two of them finished sniping at each other, I addressed Uryu.

"I'd offer to heal your injuries, Uryu," I said. "Unfortunately, fighting off all those hollows yesterday used up all of the red stones I need to do it. It'll be a couple more days before I can finish making more."

Uryu adjusted his glasses and said, "I never intended to involve anyone else in that fight. It was a mistake and I apologize."

"Apology accepted," I said. "I'll tell you what. You teach me to use Quincy powers and we'll call it even."

Uryu spat out his drink in surprise at my request, drawing attention briefly away from Keigo and preventing us from speaking freely until he once more commanded the others' attention.

"From what I've heard, you may be the last of the Quincies," I said. "If anything were to happen to you, the skills, knowledge, and techniques your people developed would be lost forever."

Uryu gave me the most incredulous look I'd ever been subjected to and said, "You don't have any spirit energy."

"I was hoping you had a way to build up spirit energy," I said.

"I have a dozen ways to build up spirit energy!" declared Uryu. "The problem is, if you don't have any spirit energy to begin with, it's like trying to help someone without any arms build up his biceps!"

"Well, that's disappointing," I said.

"Honestly, I have no idea how you can even see hollows, let alone fight them," noted Uryu.

"Alchemy and a magic eye," I said. "I can teach alchemy, but the magic eye's a unique artifact."

"I appreciate the offer, but I have my own training to focus on," said Uryu.

* * *

The rest of the day passed relatively uneventfully. Presumably, Uryu's bait had lured in every hollow for miles around yesterday, so, barring new souls hollowfying, it would be a while before any of them moved back into Karakura town to hunt. As the day came to a close, I saw Ichigo and Rukia messing with a shabby, torn lion plushie. Recalling what they'd told me a few days back, I realized that must be Kon.

"What's up, guys?" I asked, coming up to them.

"Kon here decided to run away, get messed up, and came crawling back," said Ichigo, clearly annoyed with the mod soul. "Don't worry. I think I know a guy who can fix you."

I clapped my hands and reached out to the doll, but Ichigo had already turned and was walking back toward the school with Rukia. I ran to catch up and see where this was going. Ichigo led us into a classroom that was empty except for Uryu.

"I need you to fix him," said Ichigo, tossing Kon down on Uryu's desk.

"I don't have to do anything for you, Kurosaki," said Uryu.

"Oh, I get it," taunted Ichigo. "You won't fix Kon because you can't. With your hands messed up like that, you're totally useless."

That had the effect Ichigo was going for, lighting a fire under Uryu, who rose and declared, "These injuries are nothing," and opened his sewing kit. With speed that no ordinary human could manage, Uryu not only repaired, but restuffed and redesigned Kon entirely in seconds. Ichigo, Rukia, and I stared dumbstruck.

Kon now had a wig of curly blond locks replacing his brown mane and wore a red dress with frills and petticoats. When questioned Uryu explained that he'd replaced Kon's stuffing with a flame retardant alternative and given him a fashionable new look. Before he could finish explaining, Kon jumped up and kicked Uryu in the head. Kon's plush body meant that even with his enhanced leg strength, he couldn't do much damage.

"That's it! I'm running away again!" exclaimed Kon.

I clapped and caught him by the arm as he tried to run past me. Blue alchemic light passed over his body, deconstructing the wig and dress Uryu put him in and restoring his outward appearance to that of a fully repaired version of the damaged lion plushie he'd been before Uryu got ahold of him.

"There," I said. "Is that better?"

Kon looked at his paws and said, "That'll do. Thank you."

"Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow," I said, waving over my shoulder as I headed home.

* * *

Author's comments:  
I considered having Greed remain largely ignorant of spiritual matters in this world until this incident, but decided against it for various reasons, mostly relating to pacing. Dumping all the exposition after the menos grande fight would have been tedious, and there would have been basically no time to bond with the rest of the cast.


	5. Chapter 5: Preparing For the Invasion

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 5) Preparing For the Invasion  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

"I'm sorry I was away so long, boy," I said, petting my excited dog and making sure he had food and water. Loki was a military chimera who I'd originally met half starved in a cage in the back of a warehouse. He could survive long periods without food or water, but that was no excuse to neglect him. The poor creature had already suffered enough of that in his life.

After I finished playing with my lonely, attention starved dog, I laid out my notes and checked on my philosopher's flowers. All those chores done, I sat down at my desk and took out my divination kit. I laid out astrology charts, cast rune stones, read tea leaves, gazed into my crystal ball, read tarot cards, and generally examined the future for myself, Ichigo, Rukia, and Uryu. The omens were so bad I double checked, thinking I'd misinterpreted something. Rukia was to suffer a betrayal at the hands of those closest to her. Uryu was destined to suffer a terrible loss. Ichigo was going to die. I even saw myself impaled by a sword in the crystal ball. I could only hope that vision was literal rather than symbolic, as I could survive that.

I wasn't sure how to bring these warnings up to the others. Deciding to sleep on it, I headed to bed. Taking a quick glance at the foeglass on my night stand, I saw the two approaching figures had resolved themselves into a pair of men dressed like soul reapers. Both men wore white coats over their black uniforms and had normal sized swords sheathed at their hips. One man had mussed brown hair and glasses while the other had dark skin, dark purple hair, and wore a white visor over his eyes and an orange scarf.

"Are you the ones responsible for whatever's coming?" I asked the figures in the mirror. "I'll get a photo of you and see if Rukia recognizes you tomorrow morning."

* * *

Neither Rukia nor Uryu were in school the next day. More concerning was the fact that all the faculty and most of the student body seemed to have forgotten that Rukia ever existed. Ichigo was there and looked absolutely defeated and depressed.

As it turned out, this was the last day of class before summer vacation, and various attempts to sort out what we intended to do on our vacations prevented me from getting Ichigo alone to find out what he knew about Rukia's disappearance and Uryu's absence. After classes let out, I went to follow Ichigo and noticed that Orihime and Chad were coming behind us.

Orihime broke the ice by demanding to know what happened to Rukia and why everyone else seemed to have forgotten her. We confirmed that the four of us all remembered her, and further that the memory erasing device had either not worked or worn off on Orihime and Chad, with both recalling incidents where Ichigo and Rukia had come to save them from hollows. In Orihime's case, her older brother's spirit had hollowfied and attacked her before I came to this world.

"Rukia wasn't from our world," explained Ichigo. "She came to this world to protect us from hollows, and to help spirits pass on to the Soul Society. Last night, two other soul reapers came to take Rukia back with them."

"There's more to it than that," I said. "If all that happened was Rukia went home, you might miss her, but you're barely keeping it together."

Ichigo gritted his teeth to help control his breathing, then said, "Rukia's in trouble, and it's my fault. A few months ago, when we first met, a hollow attacked my family. Rukia got hurt protecting me, and couldn't fight. She gave me her powers so I could protect them."

"That answers some questions I've had for a while," I said.

"Only, it turns out, transferring soul reaper powers to a human is a crime, and now the Soul Society's going to execute her for it," continued Ichigo. "I tried to stop those two soul reapers from taking her, but I wasn't strong enough."

"Wait, two soul reapers?" I asked. "Are these them?" I held out the photo I'd taken from my foeglass.

Ichigo shook his head. Chad asked, "Where did you get that picture?"

"I have a magic mirror that shows me my enemies," I explained. "It isn't perfect, but it's usually reliable."

"The Ichigo I know wouldn't just leave it at that," said Orhime. "He'd find a way to go wherever she was and bring her here."

"That's exactly what I'm going to do," said Ichigo. "I have a way in to the soul society. It opens in seventeen days. I'm going to spend that time training and preparing so when I get there, I won't lose again."

Ichigo turned and walked off. I went to follow, when a voice from behind me said, "You can't help him with what he's about to do."

Chad, Orihime, and I turned but all that was there was a black cat with yellow eyes.

"Did that cat just talk?" asked Chad.

"I did," replied the cat. "My name is Yoruichi."

"What do you mean we can't help Ichigo?" asked Orihime, unphased by the sight of a talking cat.

"Ichigo is undergoing specialized training by Kiske Urahara," said Yoruichi. "The presence of amateurs would be more a hindrance than a help. If you want to help save Rukia, however, I can train you."

"No offense, Yoruichi," I said, "but the last time a talking cat showed up out of nowhere with an offer, it ended badly for someone I care about."

"I presume that had something to do with the artifact you showed Kiske," said Yoruichi. "My offer is sincere, whether you choose to believe me or not."

"I'm going to see where this takes me," said Chad. "Ichigo's going to the Soul Society to rescue Rukia, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to be there and back him up."

"I'm going too," said Orihime. "Rukia's my friend. She and Ichigo saved my life and helped my brother pass on. If I can help her, I will."

"And you?" asked Yoruichi.

"I'm coming along," I said. "As long as you're being straight with me, we'll get along fine. Just know, if you're lying to me, and I find out you've done anything to hurt them, I'll kill you. And the same goes for what Urahara's doing with Ichigo."

"Good," said Yoruichi. "You'll need that fire in you if you're going to survive the Soul Society."

"Oh, we should ask Uryu to come train with us," said Orihime.

* * *

Yoruichi led us out of town to a secluded spot by a waterfall. He explained that he was sensing Uryu's spirit energy. We found Uryu, who was a little weirded out by the talking cat. Once he recovered his composure, he thanked Yoruichi for the offer, but explained he intended to train on his own. After wishing Uryu well, Yoruichi took us to an empty warehouse where we'd be away from prying eyes.

"Let's begin by seeing what you can do right now," said Yoruichi. "Summon your powers."

Chad and Orhimie strained and yelled out, but nothing unusual seemed to be happening. I clapped and touched a wall. A wave of blue light passed over the walls, ceiling, and floor, cleaning away dust and detritus and leaving the entire interior of the warehouse pristine and spotlessly clean.

"What was that?" asked Yoruichi. "I didn't sense nay spirit energy when you did that."

"It's called alchemy," I said. "It doesn't use spirit energy. According to Uryu, I don't have any spirit energy."

"I-? You're serious?" said Yoruichi. "I know you fought hollows during the menos grande attack. Without spirit energy, how did you even see them?"

"I've got an enchanted eye that lets me see invisible things," I said. "Didn't Kiske explain this to you?"

"He must've forgotten to mention some details," said Yoruichi in a disgruntled tone. "Oh well, how about you two? Are you having any luck?" Both Chad and Orhime sighed with disappointment. "It isn't that hard. Think about when you summoned your powers before."

Chad didn't have much luck with the tactic, but Orhime managed a reaction. In her hair, Orhime wore a pair of clips I'd never given much thought to. They each sported a green flower with six long, thin petals. As she concentrated her hair clips glowed and disappeared. She, Yoruichi, and Chad looked around at something invisible.

I popped the Mad Eye into my eye socket and saw six humanoid figures, each maybe six inches tall hovering with the aid of colorful wings that looked to be made of fabric. They engaged in a conversation with Orhime I still couldn't hear. Eventually, one of the beings got agitated and started pulling Orhime's hair and yelling at her.

"I see you still need some practice taming your powers," said Yoruichi.

The figures vanished in a flash of light, each one forming two petals on her hairpins. Orhime explained how they worked in battle. Three of the creatures could form a shield to block attacks. Two of them had the power to heal wounds. The final one had the power to attack and had sliced a hollow in half when they first manifested during that mess of Uryu's.

As Chad continued to try to summon the power he'd used to fight a hollow during the same attack, Yoruichi coached Orihime on summoning the creatures that represented her power one at a time. Orhime was able to demonstrate the triangular shield successfully by the time Chad managed to summon his power.

Chad's right arm was covered in red and black armor. He cocked it back and punched toward a wall. A blast of energy was expelled from his fist, blowing a hole in t he wall big enough to drive a car through. As that had undoubtedly drawn attention, Yoruichi had us skedaddle and find a new training ground.

* * *

Once at the new training grounds, I said, "Look, I don't really need help learning to use my powers. If I stay, I'll just end up slowing Chad and Orhime down. I'm going to go make my own preparations."

"If you think that's best," said Yoruichi.

"I'll stop by daily to check on your progress and make sure you're okay," I said. "If you can think of anything you need me to do to help with your training, let me know."

"We will," promised Orihime.

"Before I go, though," I said, "what can you tell me about what we'll be facing? The soul reapers that came to take Rukia were stronger than Ichigo. Can you put some numbers on that? How many are we going to have to fight, and how strong are they?"

"Most soul reapers are divided among the membership of what is known as the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. The lowest rankings are referred to as unseated officers, and generally aren't much stronger than normal humans. They have spirit energy and some training in using it, but they're the equivalent of ordinary human soldiers. Unseated officers number in the thousands. The next step up are seated officers. They're each given a number based on their strength and experience. A fourth seat is stronger than a sixth seat, for example.

"At the top of that hierarchy are the captains and lieutenants. Those are the first and second seat respectively. The soul reapers who came to take Rukia were a captain and a lieutenant. Ichigo was able to fight more or less evenly with the lieutenant."

"Okay," I said. "I've seen Ichigo fight. That gives me a sense of scale."

"Except for one thing," said Yoruichi. "When captains and lieutenants come to the human world, they have a seal applied to them that limits them to one fifth of their power."

"Why would they do that?" asked Orhime.

"The energy shed by Ichigo Kurosaki awakened your powers," said Yoruichi. "Spiritually stronger beings can have a correspondingly stronger influence on the souls in this world. The limiters on their power is to limit the effect they have on those around them."

"So, five times stronger than Ichigo," I said, nodding.

"That's just the lieutenants," said Yoruichi. "The captains are an order of magnitude stronger still. Each is more powerful than the entire rest of their squad combined."

I thought about that for a moment, mentally running through some calculations. Then I said, "Well, I obviously have a lot of preparing to do. I'll see you all later."

* * *

Back at my lab, I looked at the trays of philosopher's flowers that were nearly done producing red stones and shook my head. This wouldn't be nearly enough to make me a match for the Soul Society. With a little over two weeks to prepare, I'd need a lot more philosopher's flowers.

A homunculus' strength and speed aren't determined by its muscles. Our bodies posses strength and speed in proportion to the quantity of red stones we've consumed. There is no theoretical upper limit. I stomped my foot and transmuted layers of earth beneath my lab into twelve additional floors, each ten times the length and width of my existing lab space. Each floor was set up with rows of racks, each containing growth lamps and other equipment necessary for hydroponically growing philosopher's flowers in the most space efficient way possible.

Hydroponics on this level would take power, and in quantities that would be noticed if I tried to siphon them off the city's electrical grid. So, instead, I made use of my training in nuclear physics and produced a fission reactor to power everything. Alchemy solved a lot of problems with making a reactor like this safe to operate.

Once I had red stones from my existing crop, I could produce some automatons to tend to the crops and the reactor. Until then, I had to do it all, which meant using my time turner. Step one was using bio-alchemy to rapidly grow every flower I intended to use to maturity. It was an exhausting process, which took me about a week of relative time. I packed that all into the first hour, taking frequent naps whenever I was feeling too drained.

For the red water itself, the highly toxic substances that formed the base material for red stones, I had a container spelled with a refilling charm, allowing me as much red water as I needed, limited only by how fast the substance could be poured out of the container. At the scales I was working at, I needed to use the time turner while carrying that container to multiply the total amount of red water poured out in a given time.

The delicate process of stewing, steeping, and maturing potions was not particularly amenable to time turning, so potions that required a month or more, I'd have to rely on my existing stocks of. I had plenty of veritasyrum, the colorless, odorless truth potion. I doubted polyjuice would be helpful in the Soul Society , but I had a dozen doses just in case. As for felix felicis, the gold colored liquid luck that took six months to brew, I had only a small bottle, enough for twenty four hours. The stuff was dangerous in large quantities, and I didn't want to get hooked on it. It was for emergency use only.

Other potions, I brewed in parallel, producing enough strengthening solutions, wit sharpening potions, and healing elixirs to last our invasion party through a long campaign. Likewise, I prepared a selection of undetectable poisons. It would be hard to know which ones were effective on soul reapers, so I'd bring a variety.

* * *

The next day, I brought Loki with me when I went to check up on Yoruichi, Chad, and Orhimie. I'd dropped my teenager disguise and resumed my full adult form. Orihime suggested I'd had a growth spurt before I explained I was a shape shifter. After doing a few requests to demonstrate, we sat got down to business.

"Do you recognize these men?" I asked Yoruichi, holding up the photo from my foeglass.

"They're two of the captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads," said Yoruichi. "You can recognize a captain by the white hiori with their squad's number on the back. This is Soske Aizen, captain of squad 5. The one in the scarf is Kamane Tosen, captain of squad 9. Avoid both of them if you can."

I nodded. Then I asked, "What exactly did Rukia do to Ichigo? How did she transfer her powers to him, and why is that a crime?"

"The Soul Society considers it a crime because substitute soul reapers like Ichigo are harder to control, since they acquire their powers outside the structure of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, and have loyalties and affiliations with people in the world of the living. As to the how, a soul reaper stabs a person through the heart with their zanpakto and channels their spirit energy through it. The soul reaper's own powers recover over time. This technique had a very small chance of success, and failure means killing the subject instead of making him a soul reaper."

"Ichigo told us Rukia did it when she was injured and both of the were about to be killed by a hollow," I said. "Doesn't the Soul Society make allowances for extreme situations like that?"

"Under ordinary circumstances, yes," said Yoruichi. "Someone in the Soul Society is pushing this." He gave a meaningful look at my photo.

* * *

The batch of red stones I'd started before this mess was finished the following day. I used htem to produce tool sand automatons to maintain my lab and tend to red stone production so I wouldn't have to run myself ragged doing it all myself. That meant the bulk of my preparations for invading the Soul Society were complete, at least until my automatons harvested the new batch of red stones I'd have to eat to gain enough strength to defeat the combined forces of the soul reaper military.

Over the next few days, I consulted with Yoruichi about the layout of the city we'd be invading. The Soul Society was divided into wealthy and poor districts. The Seireitei was the central part of the city where most of the soul reapers were based, and where we'd have to penetrate. Surrounding the Seireitei was the Rukon district, a combination of lower class slums and rural areas. I managed to assemble a crude map of the Seireitei including the rough locations of the barracks and headquarters for each of the thirteen divisions, the prison Rukia would be being held in, and the execution grounds.

I learned that some of the divisions had special ties. The second division was integrated with the stealth force, the Soul Society's spies and assassins. The fourth were the medical division, providing healing and support for the rest. Most interesting to me was squad 12, the Department of Research and Development.

It represented potentially the greatest treasure trove of scientific knowledge I'd ever seen, much of it specifically geared toward the internal structure, composition, and properties of the human soul. In a world where custom made souls are mass produced consumer goods, their research institutes could provide knowledge and insight beyond anything I dared hope was possible. Maybe even enough knowledge to reverse what the incubators had done to Sloth.

That didn't change the mission. Preventing Rukia's execution was still the main goal of this trip. It was just if I had a chance to raid squad 12's library on the way, I would.

* * *

Finally, a week after I began preparing for this invasion, my red stones were ready. My automatons reset the planters to start a new batch while I set to work devouring many times my body weight in red stones over the course of a couple days. Red stones of this sort were the weakest kind of amplifier I knew how to produce, but what they lacked in individual potency, they made up for in raw quantity.

With eight days to go before our departure, I set about getting a feel for my new strength and speed. I'd exceeded the strength I had after eating a Philosopher's Stone. Where that had let me crumble stone to powder with a punch, I was now capable of tearing apart twelve inch thick titanium like it was tissue paper. If my back of the envelope calculations were right, I was now stronger than the entire Thirteen Court Guard Squads combined. If I was wrong about that, I'd still have potions to provide an additional boost.

"The thing is," I said to Sloth's Grief Seed, "you could still probably beat me at arm wrestling. You'd use up all your magic doing it, but you could do it."

I let out a sigh. I should be excited, eager to show off my new power, and giddy over the chance to learn so much. All I felt was a grim determination. This must've been how Sloth felt when I'd enacted the stupid plan of deliberately letting myself get captured by the Nazis, and they'd ended up torturing me to death. She'd tracked down my remains over the course of months, successfully infiltrating Nazi bases and gathering intelligence all along the way, all while afraid she'd never see me again.

I packed up my lab. My dark detectors, my collection of Grief Seeds, anything I couldn't trivially transmute a new one of went in my bag. My automatons would continue producing red stones for me until the red water supply ran out, but with no guarantee how long I'd be in the Soul Society, especially if I got a lead on restoring Sloth, I didn't want to risk leaving anything behind I might need.

Over the next week, I brushed up on my swordsmanship. Every soul reaper had a zanpakto, and I had to assume they knew how to use them. After running through my forms, I used my time turner to provide myself a sparring partner. The blue shafts of energy extending from the wands of my past and future selves were set to deconstruct their way through anything they hit. I sparred with myself at full contact, regenerating any injuries or severed limbs I suffered in the process. No one would be holding back in the Soul Society.

A second batch of red stones was ready partway through the week. I had them packed into my bag. With my strength already enhanced, they'd be more use to me as alchemy amplifiers.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Greed has long since mastered his own powers, and has little need to train with them in the time available. That doesn't mean that weeks of prep time are wasted on him.


	6. Chapter 6: Crossing Over

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 6) Crossing Over  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

As ready as I was going to be, I met up with Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad on the last day before we were scheduled to leave. Along with our other classmates and Ichigo's family, we attended a fireworks festival. It was a welcome bit of social interaction and normalcy after the intense preparation of the past few weeks.

As I lived alone and didn't have anyone checking up on me, I was the only one going to the Soul Society that didn't have to make excuses and arrangements to deal with my absence. Ichigo would be leaving Kon in his body. Chad and Orhime made up a fake trip they were going on.

That evening, we gathered at Urahara's shop. Uryu had decided to come and wore a white uniform with a mantle. I'd reverted to my default black outfit with the open half vest that showed off the oroboros mark in the center of my chest. Loki was at my side. After exchanging greetings and confirming everyone was sure about this, Urahara stepped out of his shop and ushered us in.

Our party was led through a trap door and down a long ladder, which brought us down to an enormous room painted to resemble outdoors. The room was at least the size of a football stadium, with a ceiling at least twenty stories above us. The place had rocks and trees like an arid area outside and was lit as though it was full daylight despite no obvious light source.

This was obviously where Ichigo had been training, as he'd grown as blase about it as Orihime had to Yoruichi. Once we'd had a moment to marvel, Urahara drew our attention then snapped his fingers. A set of four pillars three feet wide and ten feet long made of what looked like aged, cracked stone materialized out of thin air, stacked on top of one another to form an upright square.

"This is the gate that leads to the Soul Socity. It's called the senkaimon, or tunnel world gate. I'm gonna tell you all how to successfully pass through it, but first, we need to change one thing."

Urahara used his cane to knock Ichigo out of his body. His sword had changed significantly since I'd last seen it. Instead of an oversized sword in an equally huge scabbard strapped to his back, it now looked like an oversized chef's knife, still as long as he was tall. The weapon lacked a guard or a proper handle, seemingly made of a single piece of metal. The sword was wrapped in thin, white strips of cloth that resembled bandages.

Preempting any questions, Urahara said, "All right, listen up. Unlike normal gates, this one has a spirit particle conversion machine. I'll explain. As you already know, the Soul Society is a spirit world. Unless you are in spirit form, it is impossible to enter. Right now, only one of you can cross through as a spirit, Ichigo, a soul reaper. The conversion machine will transform the rest of you into spirits as well."

"So, you're saying, the gate will let us pass through without extracting our souls?" confirmed Uryu.

"Yes," replied Urahara. "Passing through the conversion machine will allow you to stay in your present forms, but there's a catch. The window of time the gate can be kept open for you is only four minutes long."

Ichigo looked worried and asked something only I couldn't hear.

"Ordinarily, no," replied Urahara. "In fact, the whole scheme is a little shaky. Four minutes with the gate is all I can give you. After that, it will close, and anyone who hasn't made it through yet will be trapped forever in the dangai, the precipice world between this world and the Soul Society."

"How will we ever make it?" asked Orihime.

"Go forward," replied Yoruichi. "Remember what I told you about the connection between heart and soul. You must have no doubt, have no fear. Do not think of those you are leaving behind. The will to go forward will be your guide. And don't look back. Only those who can do these things can follow me into the gate and survive."

Ichigo again said something inaudible.

"And you understand that if you lose, you can never return to this life again, right?" verified Yoruichi.

Ichigo's expression hardened, and I could read his lips well enough to determine he said, "Then all I need to do is win."

"Exactly," said Yoruichi.

Tessai and Urahara each planted their palms on the ground in front of the gate, and blue light poured from their hands and filled hte space inside the gate.

"So, everybody ready?" asked Urahara. "As soon as it opens, run in as fast as you can. Good luck."

The quality of the light changed, and Yoruichi, Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orhimie, Loki, and I launched ourselves into the portal.

* * *

The senkaimon was one of the least disorienting interdimensional portals I'd passed through. When entering a witch's labyrinth, I always needed a moment to orient myself. The Gate could only loosely be described as containing space within it. By contrast, passing through the senkaimon into the dangai was as seamless as a transition as stepping through an ordinary door.

The portion of the dangai we emerged into resembled a long, straight cave. The ground was relatively even and level, but the walls and ceiling looked to be made of barely held together purple mud. As our party ran, the passageway collapsed behind us.

Once through the senkaimon, I was able to see and hear Ichigo with my normal senses. A quick test verified that due to having the matter of my body converted to spirit particles, I was no longer able to shape shift. That also meant my regeneration would likewise be inoperative until I returned to the world of the living. Fortunately, my red stone fueled strength and speed were still there, meaning that aspect of my preparations hadn't been wasted.

I used the Mad Eye to look beyond the walls of the cave we were currently running through. There were similar passageways running parallel to the one we ran along, as well as others heading off in directions suggesting that the precipice world might open up to worlds other than just the world of the living and the Soul Society, possibly even other worlds I was able to access using the Gate.

The mantle of Uryu's outfit came into contact with the purple substance from the walls and got caught. Despite looking flimsy, and visibly running down the walls, none of the material came off, instead holding Uryu fast. Ichigo drew his zanpakto to free Uryu, but Yoruichi stopped him.

The purple substance that made up the walls was called the restrictive current. Anything that makes contact with the restrictive current is lost forever. That explained, Chad tore Uryu's cape, leaving the part actually caught by the restrictive current behind. Once Uryu was free, Chad tossed him over his shoulder and resumed running, despite Uryu's protests that he could run on his own.

"That should've been covered in the briefing, Yoruichi," I yelled at the cat.

"That probably should've been too!" exclaimed Uryu. Slung over Chad's shoulder, he was looking behind us. I turned the Mad Eye in its socket and looked through the back of my head to see what he was looking at.

Bearing down on us from behind was an object resembling a bullet train, large enough to fill the entire passageway and covered in the same runny purple goop we'd just learned the dangers of. A bright spotlight was fixed front and center, helping with the impression of a train about to run us all down.

"The cleaner!" Yoruichi identified the object. "It passes through once every seven days. It's just our bad luck today was the day."

"If it's that regular, this isn't bad luck! It's poor planning!" I yelled.

"Can we talk about this later? We need to focus on running!" said Yoruichi.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel. Judging by our current speed, the cleaner would overtake us before we reached it. I scooped up Loki in my left arm and did the same for Orihime with my right and started pouring on additional speed. Getting closer to Chad and Ichigo's top speed helped a little, but not enough.

I was weighing the decision to go full speed and leave the others behind, since I only had two arms and couldn't grow more when Orihime called out the spirit chant that activated her powers, "Santen Keshun I reject!"

Three of the creatures that made up her powers, called the Shun Sun Rika, burst into being from the petals of Orihime's hairpins and formed an orange, triangular shield of energy between them, separating us from the cleaner. Pushed by the cleaner, the shield pushed us forward and through the portal to safety.

* * *

The portal opened above ground level, and when transitioning from the dangai to the Soul Society proper, we picked up considerable momentum. As a result, the seven of us slammed hard into the ground. Thankfully, we'd ended up with nothing worse than a few scrapes and bruises.

I got to my feet and looked around. With its blue sky, white clouds, brown dirt, and green grass, this place was so much more normal than any afterlife I'd ever imagined. Yoruichi had described it in terms of rich and poor areas, politics and power structures, towns, barracks, and layout. It just hadn't clicked for me that what she was describing was a normal world of the type humans normally lived in. Only my inability to transmute despite an ample supply of red stones would have immediately clued me in to anything unusual about this place.

We'd arrived in a poor village populated by wooden shacks butted right up against an enormous shining city. There were people in the shacks, hiding and peering out curiously through knotholes in their wall boards and from between drawn curtains. I could only tell they were there thanks to the Mad Eye letting me see through walls.

"What were you thinking, using your powers like that?" Yoruichi berated Orihime. "You're lucky the cleaner only made contact with the shield itself. If any of your rika had touched it, they would have been destroyed forever!"

"She was thinking about saving all of our lives!" I shot at Yoruichi. "If you'd warned us about the restrictive current before we set out, Uryu would've known he had to keep his cape away from the walls, we wouldn't have lost those seconds rescuing him, and we would have had enough of a lead on the cleaner that what she did wouldn't have been necessary!"

"Greed, it's alright," said Orihime, waving her arms and stepping between me and the black cat. "The important thing is we made it and we're all okay!"

"Explaining every detail that might be relevant to your mission would literally take years," said Yoruichi. "We don't have time for me to tutor you on everything covered in the Soul Reaper Academy's curriculum. That said, I'll admit overlooking the restrictive current and the cleaner were mistakes on my part."

"Okay, so where are we now?" asked Ichigo.

"We've arrived in the Rukon district," said Yoruichi. "It's the poorest part of the Soul Society, but also the part with the most freedom. The Seireitei, where the soul reapers live, is where they'll be keeping Rukia."

"Where is everyone?" asked Uryu.

"They're hiding," I reported. "I think they're scared of us."

"Souls who come to the soul society without a soul reaper escort are called Ryoka," explained Yoruichi. "They're blamed for many of ht e problems and hardships the people in the Rukon district face."

"So, it's back to being the target of irrational prejudice," I said with a sigh. "I suppose I should feel comforted. The only world where that didn't happen had Kyubey in it."

"Hey, I'll bet that's the Seirei-whatever," said Ichigo, running toward the city. Before he had set foot from the dirt road of the Rukon district to the white paving tiles of the Seireitei, a set of massive, rectangular stones, each fifty feet tall, fell from the sky. Each stone locked into place with the one next to it, forming a wall separating the Rukon district from the Seireitei, extending as far as the eye could see.

Near Ichigo, one of the stones was different, containing a mechanism that I took to be a gate. Then a giant also fell out of the sky, landing between Ichigo and the gate. The giant was wearing a soul reaper uniform with the left side of the shirt absent. His left arm wore armor. He had a long pony tail and sideburns long enough that he tied each one off in a tassel under his chin. In his right hand, he wielded an axe scaled for him, which mean it was twice as tall as Chad.

Yoruichi called for Ichigo to get back, identifying the giant as Jidanbo, the undefeated guardian of the Seireitei's western gate. Loki and I joined Orihimie and Chad rushing to Ichigo's aid. As we got close, however, Jidanbo struck the ground with his axe, which displaced the stone beneath the ground to form a crude wall between us and Ichigo.

"What sort of uncivilized place did you come from?" demanded Jidanbo. "Wherever you came from, we do things differently here. Let me teach you the rules. Rule number one, always wash your hands before sitting down to eat. Rule number two, don't eat food that has fallen on the floor. Rule number three, all duels are fought one on one."

In a low voice, Chad said, "Greed, if you can distract him, I'll blast a hole in this wall. When I do, Orihime, send Tsubake through it."

Orihime and I nodded. Then Jidanbo called out, "I can hear you plotting out there. Once I finish with your friend, I promise to fight each of you in turn, but he got here first."

"Chad, Orihime, Greed," called Ichigo. "I'd actually like you to leave this guy to me."

"Kurosaki, what are you thinking?" demanded Uryu.

"Uryu, when did you get there?" asked Ichigo.

"I've been here!" snapped Uryu.

"Look," said Ichigo, "the original plan was that I'd train with Kiske for ten days to get my soul reaper powers back. But as it turned out, it only took three days."

"So?" asked Uryu.

"So, what do you think I ended up doing for the next seven days? I fought with him that entire time," explained Ichigo.

"Oh, I get it," said Uryu. "You learned all his techniques."

"Actually, I didn't learn a thing," said Ichigo, "but after all that time fighting him, I gained incredible strength and endurance."

"Are you done ignoring me?" asked Jidanbo.

"Look, you could have attacked at any time," said Ichigo.

"That would have been very rude," noted Jidanbo. "Now, I will obliterate you with one swing of my mighty axe!"

Ichigo didn't move from his spot, just raising his zanpakto over his head to meet the downward swing of Jidanbo's axe. Ichigo's arm didn't even move when their weapons clashed and he stopped the momentum of Jidanbo's axe dead. From that clash, I knew this fight was over, but it took Jidanbo a while to realize it himself. As he tried and failed to strike Ichigo, he ended up cutting through the wall of upraised stone separating the rest of us from the fight and raining heavy stones down at us on accident.

Chad knocked a boulder aside that was aimed for him while Uryu and Orihime dodged falling rocks. One of the boulders was headed for Loki. I backhanded the rock and pulverized it to powder. Loki shook the dust out of his fur.

After taking out a second axe, flexing his muscles to destroy the armor on his right arm, and throwing more attacks than he could count (twelve), Jidanbo paused. Deciding he'd had enough, Ichigo swung his zanpakto and shattered the blades of both of Jidanbo's axes, leaving him holding just the handles. Jidanbo dropped to his knees, tears pouring from his eyes.

"My axes," he wailed. "Why did you have to do that?"

"I couldn't let you just keep swinging them at me," said Ichigo. "I guess I could've just destroyed one of them and let you keep the other one. My bad."

"No. You're not bad," said Jidanbo, wiping his nose and regaining his composure. "You show compassion, thinking about your enemy and his axes. Look at me, crying about some old axes. You have bested me, both as a warior and as a man. I will now open the gate for you."

"You'll let us all pass?" verified Uryu.

Jidanbo nodded. "Since your leader defeated me in battle, I have no right to deny any of you passage."

Uryu and Ichigo started arguing about the idea of Ichigo being our leader while Jidanbo put both hands under the massive gate and strained every muscle to lift it over his head. On the far side was a man wearing a soul reaper uniform and a sleeveless, white captain's coat. He had a mop of white hair, extremely pale skin, and a smile that seemed to be perpetually fixed on his face. His eyes were closed to slits.

"Jidanbo, what are you doing, opening the gate for intruders?" asked the soul reaper captain in a mocking, jovial tone. Between the tone, the grin, and the mostly closed eyes, the man was impossible to read, and I got the feeling that was deliberate.

"I had no choice. I lost," explained Jidanbo.

"That doesn't make any sense," said the captain. "A gatekeeper who loses isn't supposed to open the gate. A gatekeeper who loses dies."

Suddenly, Jidanbo's left arm was sliced open along the length of his forearm. I hadn't seen the cause. One second he was fine, and the next he was rapidly losing blood from the sliced open veins and arteries. Jidanbo faltered, but managed to keep the gate open by bracing it on his shoulders.

Ichigo stepped forward to challenge the captain and Yoruichi yelled for him to retreat. Not listening any better than he had against Jidanbo, Ichigo raised his zanpakto against the soul reaper who'd been identified as Gin Ichimaru, captain of squad three.

"Orange spikey hair, carrying a zanpakto as long as his body. You wouldn't be Ichigo Kurosaki would you?" asked Gin.

"What if I am?" asked Ichigo.

"Well, that's just one more reason I can't let you through," said the captain mysteriously as he took a few steps back and drew a short sword with a blade maybe a foot long. Gin explained, "This is my zanpakto, Shinso."

When he spoke the name, the blade extended so quickly Ichigo barely had time to get his sword in the way. Unslowed by the impact, the extending sword lifted Ichigo off his feet, slammed him into Jidanbo, and tossed both back through the gate. The sword retracted and Gin waved goodbye as the gate fell back closed.

"That's how he cut open Jidanbo's arm," I said. "He extended and retracted it too fast for the eye to follow. He deliberately slowed down so Ichigo's have a chance to block."

As Orihime began looking over Jidanbo's wounds, the people in the nearby buildings came out to greet us. Apparently, their point of concern had been Ichigo, as they'd suffered abuses from soul reapers in the past. They liked and trusted Jidanbo and were grateful when Orihime healed his arm with her oval shaped Soten Kishun shield.

Yuichi, the boy who's soul had inhabited the cockatiel, pushed his way to the front of the crowd to see Chad. It was nice to know that the knoso did what Rukia said it did. Yuichi took Chad to meet his family while the rest of us regrouped to figure out a new way into the Seireitei.

I took the oportunity to take Ichigo aside and ask him some questions that looked like they'd be more urgent once we were in the Seireitei. We hopped up to a rooftop near the wall to try and see if we could see a way over or around the wall from that vantage point while we talked.

"Do you know what Gin did when he attacked you?" I asked. "And does it have anything to do with why your sword is different?"

"That's right," said Ichigo. "You weren't there for my fight with Renji. Well, as it was explained to me, a soul reaper's zanpakto changes based on the spirit energy of its wielder. Most of the time, the zanpakto stays sealed in the form of a normal sword. By calling out its name, a soul reaper releases it into its true form. During my training with Kiske, I learned mine's name is Zangetsu."

"And their appearances when released are all different?" I confirmed.

Ichigo nodded. "If there's a way to tell what form a zanpakto takes without seeing it released, Mr. Hat and Clogs didn't tell me about it."

"You said you learned your zanpakto's name," I said. "How?"

"It's sort of hard to explain," Ichigo said. "I had this weird vision when I was trying to get my soul reaper powers back, and this old man in tinted glasses and a black coat introduced himself. Ah, I'm probably not making any sense."

"No, you spoke to your zanpakto in a vision and it told you its name," I said. "Not the weirdest thing I've ever heard by a long shot. Wait, though, you said a couple times now you regained your soul reaper powers. What happened to them?"

"Byakuya Kuchki," said Ichigo darkly.

"Kuchki?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Ichigo. "Rukia's brother was the captain that came to take her back to the Soul Society to be executed. Anyway, he stabbed me here and here, destroying my soul chain and soul sleep. That destroyed my powers and I had to go through a risky process to get them back."

"That's useful information," I said.

* * *

Author's comments:  
The Soul Society is a strangely mundane sort of afterlife nothing like the reports Greed's gotten from the various people he's known who have come back from the dead in other worlds.


	7. Chapter 7: Stolen Power

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 7) Stolen Power  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

The Soul Society had a sun, which set. Our party was invited to stay the night by a local elder. Yoruichi was asking about someone named Kukaku Shiba when a man rode a boar in through the front door, was thrown off said boar, and got to his feet greeting the elder. The man had a stocky build, a large chin, and a broad face. He wore a green bandana on his head. The boar wore a red ribbon tied in a bow.

He introduced himself as Ganju, along with a number of explicitly self proclaimed titles. Among those titles was number one soul reaper hater in the West Rukon. In keeping with that title, he proceeded to pick a fight with Ichigo despite the elder's attempts to defuse the situation.

What started as a fistfight that was taken outside soon escalated as Ganju drew a short sword from a sheath at the small of his back. Chad, Uryu, Orihime, and I moved to help Ichigo, but were stalled by three other members of Ganju's boar riding gang. I knocked two of their heads together and licked the third in the face while Chad threw Ichigo his zanpakto.

Ganju used what looked like a basic transfiguration spell to turn a circle of ground to sand then sunk Ichigo's zanpakto into it to pin it. Ichigo retaliated by kicking the short sword out of Ganju's hand.

When beating down Ganju's gang, I'd held back to avoid killing them. They turned out to have been tougher than anticipated as they were all still conscious. They were also a lot smarter than they looked as they stayed on the ground nursing their bruises rather than try to get up.

Now that the fight was relatively even and relatively nonlethal, we let Ichigo settle things with Ganju. Their fight was interrupted, however, by a clock strapped to the back of one of Ganju's goons striking nine o'clock and sounding an alarm. Their entire party panicked at the idea of missing some meeting and they called their boars and took off. Ganju promised to return tomorrow to finish his fight with Ichigo.

* * *

Ichigo grumbled and groused as Yoruichi led us out of the city and into the surrounding countryside the next morning. He'd wanted to settle his fight with Ganju, but came along with us after being reminded we were here to prevent Rukia's execution not brawl with strangers.

According to Yoruichi, Kukaku Shiba's house was in this direction. Kukaku apparently moved frequently, but the houses followed a similar and distinct design aesthetic that we'd know when we saw it. Yoruichi wasn't kidding.

The house we came to was situated under a pink banner held up by a pair of giant stone arms on either side of the house. There was an enormous chimney that was apparently sealed up with a paper cover.

A pair of guards got in our faces as we approached. As we were here to ask for help, I refrained from decking the both of them. I also placed a soothing hand on Loki's head to preempt any growl from him. If they threatened my dog in any way for any reason, I wouldn't have a choice but to respond. For diplomacy's sake, it was best to avoid that situation.

The guards changed their tune instantly upon sighting Yoruichi. Their bluster was silenced and they instead started apologizing and praising the cat as though he was nobility, which for all I knew, he might be. Yoruichi accepted this as his due and the guards led us in through the front door.

Most of the facility was underground. The guards led us down a flight of stairs to a waiting room where Kukaku Shiba was seated in on a cushion smoking a pipe. My human companions expressed shock that Kukaku Shiba was a woman for reasons I couldn't fathom.

Kukaku Shiba had black hair that stuck out at odd angles from what was either a set of bandages or a loosely wrapped turban. She wore a tight red vest that emphasized her large chest. Her right arm was missing and had been replaced with a prosthetic. It didn't look like she could move the prosthetic arm.

Yoruichi stepped forward to explain the mission we were on to Kukaku. The two had clearly had previous dealings, some good, some bad. Once she's heard the story, Kukaku agreed to help us infiltrate the Seireitei. She insisted, however, that we take along a chaperone who'd be able to report back to her if this turned out to be a trick and we were lying about our intentions.

Kukaku introduced the man who'd be escorting us, her brother Ganju Shiba. Ichigo immediately jumped up to resume their fight, but I grabbed him by the collar and forced him back down. For her part, Kukaku was confused and asked the two how they knew each other.

Not overly concerned about the outburst, Kukaku led us to another room. Uryu commented on the light and the lack of generators as we walked, and I learned there was a plant native to the Soul Society that generated usable amounts of electricity. It seemed to also bypass some of the problems conventional electronics tended to have in areas with high concentrations of ambient spirit energy. No doubt the material from those plants made sophisticated devices like my soul cell phone possible.

While possible applications for a plant like that whirred through my mind, Kukaku had us gather on a platform that was raised up. A hidden hatch opened at ground level. Now back on the surface, I realized the long chimney wasn't a chimney at all, but rather an enormous cannon. Kukaku Shiba, fireworks expert of the Rukon District, proceeded to explain the plan.

The walls surrounding the Seireitei were composed of a material called sekiseki stone. This material repels and neutralizes all spirit energy. To demonstrate, she put a small chip of it on the floor and struck it. The floor around the chip crumbled away from the force of her blow, but the stone and the floor immediately beneath it were untouched.

Kukaku further explained that the configuration of sekiseki stone around the Seireitei caused there to be a spherical membrane around the city that destroyed all spirit particles that attempted to pass, whether by air or underground. The solution was to surround oneself in a sufficiently dense layer of spirit energy while we passed through the membrane. This would be possible by use of a device of her own invention.

The device was a sphere roughly the size of a human head, made of glass or crystal, with a stylized image of a phoenix in its center. She called it a cannon ball and had Ganju demonstrate. Holding the orb in both hands, Ganju focused and a spherical shell of blue energy centered on the orb sprang up around him.

Kukaku struck the shell to show it was solid, then proceeded to warn us that keeping the distribution of spirit energy in the shell even was important. Any instability or loss of concentration would cause the cannon ball to explode.

The plan was for each of us to put our spirit energy into the ball, and then the shell with us inside it would be launched out of the cannon toward the Seireitei. It was a very risky plan, which she fully acknowledged. If anything went wrong, we'd either be blown up or destroyed by the membrane. My focus, however, was on a different problem with the plan, which Uryu voiced.

"All of us need to put spirit energy into the cannon ball?" He looked over at me.

Catching Uryu's meaning, Kukaku noticed my lack of spirit energy for the first time and asked, "How did you expect to do any good inside the Seireitei without any spirit energy?"

"I figured being a well armed immortal with super strength, I'd figure out some way to leverage that," I said dryly. "But it looks like if this is our way in, I'm going to need spirit energy if I don't want to be a liability."

I turned to walk away.

"Where are you going?" asked Ichigo.

"I need spirit energy, so I'm going to go mug a soul reaper and take his."

"You can't do that!" exclaimed Yoruichi.

"Sure I can," I said. "Rukia's being executed for transferring her powers. I just have to beat up a soul reaper and make him do the same thing."

"I told you that method has a low success rate, and that its far more likely that you'll die than that you'll gain any powers!" exclaimed Yoruichi.

I reached into my bag and retrieved a clear bottle containing a potion the color of liquid gold and said, "I'm feeling lucky. I'll be back soon."

* * *

Walking in the general direction of the Seireitei, I took out my pocket watch and checked the time. The potion I was about to use had the extremely dangerous side effects of recklessness and overconfidence, so I'd need to make sure I was aware of when the beneficial effects ran out. I measured out a dose that would last me one hour and swallowed.

I'd never used felix felicis before. As the powerful luck potion took effect, a confident smirk curled onto my lips. I felt more like myself than I had since losing Sloth. My plan was going to work, and with this new set of powers and abilities, I would find a way to reverse what the Incubator had done to her. It was easy to see how you could get hooked on this stuff. This feeling of confidence and certainty would've made that a risk even without its primary effect being so useful.

No sooner had I felt the effects kick in that I turned right on a whim down a dirt road. I'd followed the road only a short distance when I saw a soul reaper coming the other direction. He was balding and had his remaining hair tied back in a pony tail. He also wore a well groomed mustache that drooped slightly past the sides of his mouth.

"Excuse me, sir," I said, waving cheerfully at the soul reaper.

"What do you want?" he asked grouchily.

"I'm looking for a friend of mine, a soul reaper named Rukia Kuchki," I replied. "She was imprisoned and sentenced to death for transferring her powers to a human."

"What?" he asked. Drawing his zanpakto, he said, "I don't know what you want with-"

He cut himself off in stunned silence as I cleared the distance between us in the blink of an eye and gripped hte hand he was holding his sword with in my right hand so he wouldn't let go.

"I'm glad you asked," I said, shifting his blade and placing the top directly in the center of my oroboros tatoo in the center of my chest. "First, you're going to run me through, like so." I pulled the sword into my chest until the blade came out my back.

His eyes wide, the soul reaper asked, "What are you-?"

"What I am is probably too complicated for you to understand," I replied. "The important bit just now is I'm someone much stronger than you who doesn't die when you stab a sword through his heart.

"For the next bit, you have a choice. You can channel your spirit energy into me through your zanpakto now then go into hiding so the Soul Society doesn't execute you for the same crime they're killing Rukia over, or you can refuse. Of course, if you do refuse, I'll have to persuade you, which will leave you a lot less... mobile by the time I walk away with your powers, and that'd make going into hiding a lot tougher."

Accepting my reasoning, he closed his eyes and bowed his head. The sword through my chest glowed blue, and I felt a surge of energy at my core. Suddenly, I was pulled in two directions at once. For a brief instant, I had double vision, then I was literally in two places at once.

My use of time turners had gotten me used to the idea of there being two mes around at the same time. The only difference here was that neither me remembered the other's experiences past the point of the split. One me was standing behind the other wearing a black soul reaper uniform. The other me was my soulless homunculus body, still run through with a zanpakto.

The two mes turned and faced one another. Homunculus me pulled the sword out of his chest and handed it to soul reaper me. My soul reaper self bent down and took the shieth from the terrified soul reaper we'd attacked. Wiping the blade and resheathing it, soul reaper me slid the weapon into his belt.

As a side effect of being drained of his spirit energy, the black uniform the soul reaper wore had turned white. I had so many questions about that, but those could wait for another time.

"One last thing," said soul reaper me, resting his left hand on the sword at his belt. "Do you know my new zanpakto's name?"

He gritted his teeth and shook his head. Homunculus me took a secrecy sensor out of his bag and said, "You'd better not be lying."

Not sure what I was going to do with the antenna-like device, but no doubt imagining torture, the soul reaper called out, "I don't know! Please, let me go!"

Looking at the antenna which didn't quiver, homunculus me said, "Go. Just remember the soul reapers think what you just did merits execution. I wouldn't spread around what happened if I were you."

"Your powers should recover in a few months," added soul reaper me. "I'm sure you can make some story up about where you were in the meantime."

Both mes watched him run away down the street so he wouldn't see us turning toward Kukaku Shiba's house. We switched to parseltongue, the language of snakes, as we stood side by side in case our voices carried farther than we might intend.

"That was unexpected," said soul reaper me. He closed one eye at a time to verify he hadn't been stuck with an empty eye socket on account of having had the Mad Eye in before the split. "Do you think we'll be able to remerge?"

"If we can't, I have spare souls and we've got that gigai back home you can use," said homunculus me.

"It's probably a good thing we ended up split," said soul reaper me. "This way, I can go in with the others to rescue Rukia and you can stay out here with Loki. After what we saw from Gin, I wouldn't want to risk Loki in battle even if his powers were working."

"Don't go in there thinking you're expendable," said homunculus me. "As much as we were always telling Sloth she wasn't, I don't want you going in there and making us hypocrites."

"You also don't want to lose my new powers," said soul reaper me, smirking.

"Damn straight," said homunculus me, returning the smile.

"Speaking of those new powers," said soul reaper me, drawing his zanpakto. He looked over the sword contemplatively, then pointed it at a nearby rock. Moving the blade through a practiced series of movements, he incanted, "Windgardium leviosa!" and the rock floated in the air.

"And thus the prophecy has come to pass," said homunculus me.

Soul reaper me shook his head. "Even the centaurs can read the stars wrong. However this looks, we haven't lost her yet."

With the soul reaper we'd mugged now out of sight, both mes turned and started to walk side by side back to Kukaku Shiba's house. As we walked, we divided up our possessions. Homunculus me kept the Mad Eye, our Grief Seed connection, and everything sentimentally important to us. Soul reaper me took everything that could be useful in the mission ahead of him.

* * *

The guards at the Shiba house directed the two mes downstairs to a large room with an open floor plan where the others were practicing with the cannon balls. Homunculus me went over to where Loki was napping and sat down beside him while my soul reaper self stepped out onto the practice floor.

"I can't believe that worked," said Uryu as I picked up one of the cannon balls on the floor.

"I can't believe you managed to get out of your body when we're already in the Soul Society," said Ichigo. "Did the soul reaper you attacked have a soul candy on him or something?"

"No. I'm just fine without a soul," said homunculus me.

"So, what have I missed?" said soul reaper me. "I have some catching up to do."

Thanks to seven years of studying magical theory at Hogwarts, I caught up with the others quickly. The cannon ball I formed was round and stable, if not very powerful. Apparently the soul reaper I'd mugged didn't have much spirit energy to begin with. Uryu had told me there were ways to build it up, but we didn't really have time for that.

With no time to build up my reserves of spirit energy, I instead focused on boosting my output, dumping as large a chunk of my energy into the ball as fast as I could while still maintaining its shape and stability. It was exhausting work. Over the course of three hours, I got more tired and hungry than I'd ever been, including hte times before I became a homunculus.

Ichigo had the opposite problem. He had power to burn, but couldn't keep it stable. Even after hours of work, he couldn't get the energy to form an actual ball, and he was getting frustrated.

The Shibas offered us food, which the soul reaper me desperately needed. Hungry as I was for the first time in years, I appreciated the simple meal of fish and rice more than I had the expertly prepared feasts that had been served at Hogwarts.

Ichigo didn't join us, choosing instead to keep practicing. Ganju stayed with him to supervise. Orihime had first tried to pretend she wasn't hungry so Ichigo wouldn't be alone, then she tried pretending she was full after eating only a small part of her dinner so she could bring the rest to Ichigo. Both times her stomach growling gave her away.

Feeling replenished after wolfing down my meal, I drew my zanpakto and pointed it at Orihime's half eaten meal. I spoke the incantation for the food multiplication spell. Not only was it a tricky transfiguration spell rather than a beginning charm like levitating hte rock had been, but it felt like my zanpakto was resisting. After w few failed attempts, and gathering stars, I shifted the sword to my left hand and tried the spell without the sword acting as a wand. Without the resistance from the sword, I managed the spell, fully refilling Orihime's plate and then multiplying it again enough for us all to have seconds.

"Wow, that was amazing," said Orihime.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" asked Uryu.

"Remember how I told you about my old school? Its full name was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," I said with a smirk as I sat back down.

Laying my zanpakto on the table, back in its sheath, I said to it, "You're okay with me using you to cast spells, but not that one. Is this charms versus transfiguration, or is it because you're a sword and don't like domestic spells like that?"

Before we had a chance to dig in, the ground started shaking. Orihme identified it as something to do with Ichigo and we all leapt to our feet to rush back to the training room.

Ichigo'd screwed up with the cannon ball worse than I'd thought possible, producing an ever expanding sphere that shook the building as it pressed up against structural supports. He was dumping way too much power into it without concentrating that power. Kukaku yelled some directions at him and it finally clicked for Ichigo, and the ball shrunk down to the exact size and shape it was supposed to be.

He celebrated a bit too soon, as he lost his concentration. A crack formed in his sphere of spirit energy and I raised my zanpakto, calling, "Protego!" just in time. The explosion from Ichigo's unstable cannon ball washed over the shield charm I'd cast, and as a result, Ichigo was the only one who was hurt.

Kukaku berated Ichigo for his screw up and denied him dinner as punishment. She did the same to Ganju for screwing up in his instruction. Fortunately, Ichigo had suffered only minor burns and bruises from the explosion.

As I resheathed my zanpakto, I quietly said to it, "That one was even easier than the levitation charm. It's definitely because you're a sword. Don't worry. I'm sure we'll get the chance to do a lot of combat spells when we get into the Seireitei."

* * *

We woke the next morning before dawn. Everyone was as ready as they were going to be given our severe time constraints. Ganju had donned a battle outfit with armored shin and forearm guards to join our party. When Ichigo confronted him about his reasons for coming along, Ganju revealed that his brother had been a soul reaper who had been killed by his own comrades. Ichigo thought Rukia was worth risking his life for, and Ganju was coming to try and understand why.

Loki and my homunculus self stood back from the base of the cannon to watch the launch. Kukaku opened the side of the cannon using transfiguration and my soul reaper self entered with Ichigo, Ganju, Uryu, Orihime, Chad, and Yoruichi. We formed a ring around the orb, each of us pressing our palms to it while Yoruichi stood on top.

Rather than packing the base with explosives, Kukaku painted a black ring around the base with a mop sized brush, stabbed her sword into the platform, and began to chant. My homunculus self witnessed the power building from her chant and fire being first conjured, then concentrated. With the final line of her spell, the flames flowed into the cannon and were released all at once, exploding and propelling the cannon ball skyward.

Inside the cannon, my soul reaper self witnessed none of that. When Kukaku Shiba began her chant, all of us poured our spirit energy into the cannon ball, forming the protective shell. Thanks to the cannon ball, we barely felt the sudden acceleration of the launch. When the cannon ball unexpectedly changed direction in midair, accelerating sideways, we felt that.

Ganju took a hand off the cannon ball to pull a book out of his vest. He explained that while the launch and initial acceleration vector had been preset, the next stage was to chant a series of spells to handle the precision guidance. As much as I wanted to get a look at that book, it was all I could do to keep my spirit energy pouring into the ball.

We had to synchronize our outputs or the cannon ball would destabilize and explode. If that happened, we'd either die in the explosion or die when we impacted the membrane without protection. Ichigo's power was so much greater than ours, and his control so much sloppier, Chad, Uryu, Orihime, and I had to repeatedly remind Ichigo to turn it down while beads of sweat formed on our skin from the effort of trying to compensate for his poor control and meet him halfway.

The entire process got much more difficult when Ichigo got frustrated and got into a shouting match with Ganju. As Ichigo's control slipped, I reached for reserves of spirit energy that hadn't been there a moment ago to compensate. I'd contemplate why my reserve of spirit energy had increased when we were out of immediate danger. For the moment, I was just grateful it had.

The Seireitei came into view. We were high enough up to see the entire city laid out beneath us. The city was dozens of miles across, easily dwarfing any city I'd ever seen. I could make out mile long bridges between parts of town, sprawling estates within walled off compos, and towers as tall as skyscrapers situated on an elevated plateau in the central part of the sprawling city. Yoruichi's maps hadn't done the scale of the place justice. It would take days just to traverse.

But, that was a problem for when we landed. There was still the far more immediate problem of the membrane to contend with. Our cannon ball impacted the invisible barrier and stopped dead. Arcs of unstable spirit energy flickered around the cannon ball, illuminating the position and shape of the membrane.

Kukaku had explained that the key to making it through the membrane was a function of the density of spirit energy in the shell. We didn't have enough. Yoruichi made an executive decision and told us all to force as much spirit energy as we could into the cannon ball. Exploding from instability was more survivable than colliding with the membrane unprotected.

For the second time since launch, I found that I had more spirit energy than I'd had a moment ago, and I forced it all into the ball. We pushed through. Ont he other side, the instability crossed a critical point and the shell burst. We found ourselves suspended in midair just inside the membrane.

"What's going on?" asked Ichigo. "We blasted through the shield, but we're not falling to the ground. We're just floating here."

"Don't get separated!" ordered Yoruichi. "The cannon ball was destroyed by the shield, but its residual energy will still hold us up until it dissolves."

"And what happens then?" asked Uryu.

"It will coalesce into a whirlpool then explode and vanish," said Yoruichi. "We just stick together, because anyone who gets separated will be blown away by the explosion."

Suddenly, the remnants of glowing blue energy around us began to swirl, forming into that whirlpool Yoruichi was talking about. We were thrown this way and that by the powerful winds. Ganju and Ichigo managed to reach and cling to one another. Chad caught hold of Orihime, who reached out for Uryu, but couldn't quite reach him. Uryu was pulled outside the whirlpool and began to fall. Chad pushed off from Orihime to get to Uryu. Catching the quincy, he hurled him back into the center where he collided with Orihime before falling like a comet himself.

For years, I'd worn shoes with transmutation circles on their soles that, among other uses, let me find traction and get a firm grip on any surface, even in midair. Even though I was wearing the sandals of a soul reaper uniform instead of my regular boots, and even though the fact that this world wasn't made of matter made it so they wouldn't have worked even if I'd been wearing htem,I still curled my legs beneath me and pushed off. Somehow, my feet still found purchase in midair and I successfully launched myself out of the whirlpool following Chad.

As I rocketed headfirst toward the ground, I stayed focused on Chad and drew my zanpakto. "Don't fight me on this one," I pleaded with the sword as I cast a cushioning charm beneath us. Rather than slamming into the paving tiles, the two of us were harmlessly decelerated and landed safely thanks to the charm.

* * *

Author's comments:  
As noted by the mention of Trelawney's prophecy, this was planned at least in vague terms since before I wrote the third year at Hogwarts. Spirit energy in Bleach increases a person's base physical attributes including durability and allows the user, with training, to cast spells of various descriptions. This fits remarkably well with how magical ability in Harry Potter functions. The fact that both settings have a quasi-sentient tool that forms a special bond with a person was just icing on the cake for compatibility.


	8. Chapter 8: Fighting Through the Seireite

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 8) Fighting Through the Seireitei  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Shiba house, Loki and I watched the cannon ball disappear into the distance.

"It's in their hands now, Loki," I said. "All we can do is wait."

"So, were you planning on freeloading here until they come back?" asked Kukaku.

"Actually, I've been thinking about a way to pay my keep," I said. "Your prosthetic arm seems to be mostly cosmetic. I might be able to build you a better arm that you'll be able to control like your flesh and blood arm. It's called automail."

"Eh, I'll give you a shot," said Kukaku. "It beats having you hanging around doing nothing while you wait for your friends to come back."

Kukaku set me up with a workbench, and I got out the books on automail Winry Rockbell had given me as reference materials. Firefly creeper vines provided an electrical conductor that functioned properly in this high spirit energy environment to replace copper wire. The rest of the components were fairly straightforward machined metal pieces of various descriptions.

I wasn't a mechanical genius like Winry. I wouldn't be making anything at the level of quality she and Dominik produced. But basic, functional automail was a proven technology. The only question was if I could use local materials to adapt a version that would function in the Soul Society, and could be hooked up to a spirit body.

It was exactly the distraction I needed from the fact that my soul reaper self was storming enemy territory without me. I spent three days machining the parts, verifying the function of the mechanical and electrical components, and finalizing the assembly of a proper automail arm.

Installation of automail required surgery, and even though I'd studied enough anatomy to build a human body from scratch, my tool of choice had always been alchemy rather than scalpels. I wasn't going to even suggest Kukaku risk subjecting herself to my incompetent hands until I had some practice. Fortunately, there was an immortal guy hanging around that wouldn't even lose consciousness, let alone die, from any number of surgical mistakes I might make during the installation.

My soul reaper self had my indestructible goblin silver pocket watch containing my time turner. This instance of me had a similar device that belonged to Sloth. I used it to conduct several experimental surgeries on my future self until I had successfully replaced my arm with the automail one I'd built. I then used it again to verify I could still perform surgery using the automail arm itself at a past point in my timeline relative to the me I was operating on.

Once I was confident, I showed off the results to Kukaku Shiba. She whistled, impressed as I demonstrated the articulation of the fingers. She was a bit concerned about the fact that I had cut off my own arm as a demonstration, but I assured her that my arm would grow back once I was back in the world of the living.

Making up her mind, Kukaku Shiba agreed to go under the knife and have automail installed. I warned her about the painful process of hooking up each of her nerves to the new limb without anesthetic, but she responded with bravado. Accepting there was no real way to prepare someone for that level of pain, I prepped the operating room, sterilized my tools, and washed my hands.

My future self from after the surgery arrived and I removed the automail from him and sterilized it, then prepped Kukaku. My one armed future self held her down while I performed the surgery. She was tough, but attaching automail is the most painful thing a human can experience. The way the nerves are manipulated while making the connection stimulates them enough to overcome the effects of any anesthetic. She screamed and struggled, and future me had to hold her down and hold her still.

Flexing the fingers of her new hand gingerly, Kukaku worked to steady her breathing. I time turned to the beginning of the surgery to be the one who held her down during it. I'd made a lot of mistakes during the experimental surgeries, but they'd taught me what I needed to know to succeed with my real patient.

When Kukaku recovered from the surgery and was no longer in pain, she said that this was worth a lot more than room and board, especially as I didn't need to eat or sleep anyway. I suggested that she could pay me in books. Kaien Shiba had gone to the Soul Reaper Academy years before rising to the rank of lieutenant of squad thirteen. His family still had all of his textbooks and class notes from when he was in school. Copies of those were provided to me.

* * *

While my homunculus self kept himself distracted, my soul reaper self continued with the mission. Once on the ground, I saw the others shoot out from the exploding cannon ball in three different directions. Chad was confident they'd all made it down safely. The next step would be to link back up and then proceed to rescue Rukia.

Our arrival hadn't gone unremarked upon. An alarm was sounding announcing the presence of intruders in the Seireitei. The section of the street we'd landed on soon saw soul reapers coming at us from the two directions. Chad pointed the way three soul reapers were coming from.

"Think you can deal with those three?" he asked.

When I nodded, Chad turned the other way to face the group of five charging at us from that direction.

"Stupefy!" I yelled, firing a red bolt of light from the tip of my zanpakto. The stunning hex hit one of the soul reapers square in the chest, rendering him unconscious.

"Expelliarmus!" I called out next. My target raised his zanpakto to block the red bolt. When the disarming charm struck his sword, the weapon flew out of his hands and he himself was thrown backward into a wall.

The third soul reaper had closed the distance as I disabled his two companions with ranged spells. Bringing an overhead chop down toward my skull, I gripped my zanpakto in both hands and raised it to block. The long, curved katana I was wielding was different from the swords I'd learned fencing with, but the differences didn't mean my training was useless. Our swords clashing above my head, I shifted my sword and turned it, forcing my opponent's sword out of his grip. In the same motion, I brought the blade to his throat and held it there. He didn't dare move.

Chad, for his part, summoned the armored form of his right arm and punched in the direction of his group of soul reapers. The blast of spirit energy expelled from his fist impacted the soul reapers, leaving them unconscious but breathing when the dust settled.

"We should get moving," said Chad. "Lots of people saw us come down here."

"Right," I said. Then I told the soul reaper with my sword at his throat, "Run away."

As he fled one way, Chad and I set out in the other direction. Once we'd rounded a corner, I reached into my bag and pulled out a pair of invisibility cloaks. I dropped one over my shoulders and offered the other to Chad.

"What's this?" he asked, accepting the silvery cloak.

"It's an invisibility cloak," I said, pulling mine closed to demonstrate. "They ought to help us avoid unnecessary fighting."

Chad vanished from sight under the cloak I'd given him, then he asked, "How will we stay together if we can't see each other?"

I reached a hand out to the place he'd vanished, careful to keep my hand wrapped in my cloak, and touched him. "We hold hands."

"Okay," said Chad, grasping my offered hand with his own. In silence, the two of us set out toward a place we'd seen one of the others fall, bypassing a number of soul reaper search parties.

I had two more invisibility cloaks in my bag. They were old and had faded somewhat toward visibility, but they'd be better than nothing. I was kicking myself for not handing them out before we left, but I had no way of knowing we'd get separated.

The streets of the Seireitei were a maze. I don't mean to say they were counter intuitive or hard to navigate. I mean to say they were a literal maze designed to disorient and misdirect intruders. There were long stretches of street with nothing but blank walls on either side, turnoffs that led to dead ends with nothing down them, and zigzagging paths that could only even theoretically be for confusing invaders like us.

Chad and I cautiously worked out way through the streets for an hour, with increasingly large numbers of soul reapers running through on high alert with their swords out. A firework went off in the general direction we were headed, and the two of us rerouted toward that signal. At a dead end, but close to where the firework had gone off, Chad threw back his cloak, cocked his armored right arm, and blasted a hole in the wall ahead of us.

The dust thrown up by the explosion would outline me anyway, so I threw back my cloak, drew my zanpakto, and followed Chad through the hole. Soul reapers laid strewn about unconscious all over the street. The blast from Chad's arm had thrown shrapnel into a dozen soul reapers and slammed them into the far wall, but most of the unconscious bodies were out of Chad's line of fire, suggesting someone had beaten them up before we got here.

The fact that despite their injuries, not one of them was dead brought my mind back to an observation I'd made at Hogwarts. Witches and wizards are more durable than muggles. Spirit energy, the key element that defined the difference between the two clearly had the effect of reinforcing the body and increasing its resistance to injury. That injury resistance also meant that injuries that would be fatal to a normal human became survivable. That survivability seemed to function mostly through avoiding secondary injuries. A broken rib was less likely to puncture a lung. A damaged blood vessel was less likely to trigger a fatal clot. Bruised and torn muscles were less likely to get worse if forced into action before they had a chance to heal.

In a sense, it was comforting to know the people we were fighting would be unlikely to die unless we administered an explicitly fatal finishing blow. On the other hand, it also meant my overall sense of what was and wasn't fatal or even incapacitating, developed over years of combat experience, was thrown into question. Not to mention the fact that, despite my stolen spirit energy, I was more vulnerable than I had been in years.

I didn't have much time to muse. A large crowd of soul reapers charged around a corner, drawn by the same fireworks signal we'd followed. It would do us no good trying to hide under our cloaks while they saw us standing there. I kicked a few pieces of rubble at the charging crowd, swung my sword and called out, "Engorgio!"

The pebbles I kicked grew to the size of boulders in midair, knocking down the soul reapers in the center and causing a jam as the enemy forces that were so tightly clustered together as to fill the hallway like street fell into one another. I hopped back through the hole we'd entered this street through and called for Chad to follow.

I pointed my sword at the broken wall and called out, "Repairo!" thinking to seal us off from the enemy and give us time to escape. My sword had other ideas, resisting my use of the repair spell in service to retreating more ferociously than it had resisted duplicating food.

"What? Not aggressive enough for you?" I demanded of my sword. "Okay, how about this?" I called out the incantation to raise a wall of enchanted black flames like those that Snape had used to protect the Philosopher's Stones. It was still a defense intended to close the hole in the wall and prevent pursuit, but it was a far more brutal defense than just fixing the wall. My sword didn't resist, but nor did it lend any energy or direction to the attempt. My long drills on pronunciation and precise wand movements allowed the spell to succeed, but by a far more narrow margin than it would have with my sword acting as a wand.

"What is wrong with you?" I yelled at the sword. "What do you want?"

It answered.

Suddenly, I was no longer standing in the Seireitei with Chad, separated from a few dozen angry soul reapers by a wall of black flames. Where I was, I had no idea. The floor was a uniform surface of softly glowing light. The sky was a featureless white dome. Bookshelves were laid out in rows, each twenty feet tall. Past the shelves loomed what was unmistakably the Gate. It showed no signs of opening, merely standing there in this strange library.

"Why are you running away?" The voice came from a man seated on a stack of books nearby. He wore the sandals, two toed socks, and pleated pants of a soul reaper. On his thickly muscled upper body, he wore an open black vest like I wore in my homunculus form. He wore a length of heavy chain around his waist as a belt, and had bracelets and a headband made of the same. His skin was the same shade of brown as mine, but smoother and with an almost oiled look. His face was broad and he had spiked up brown hair in a style identical to mine. He was reading a book and hadn't bothered to look up when he addressed me.

"Who are you?" I asked.

He shook his head. "It isn't that easy. Turn around and defeat them and I'll tell you my name."

This seemed like the vision Ichigo had described. This man was my zanpakto.

"Why do you want that?" I asked.

"If you avoid combat, you will stagnate," said the zanpakto spirit. "You've noticed it yourself. Your spirit energy grows when your life is in danger."

"If I stop to fight every enemy in the Soul Society they'll execute Rukia long before I get there."

"You don't know Rukia," accused the spirit. "Coming to the Soul Society was about you gaining power from the start. Stop shying away from it. Accept it and get on with your real mission."

"You don't know anything about me," I said.

"The only things I know are about you," said the sword. "These books are your memories, your hopes, your fears, your ambitions. There is nothing in this world that doesn't come from you."

"Then read more carefully," I spat at the sword spirit. "I want power, no way am I denying that, but not at the expense of an innocent life. Sure, Rukia's practically a stranger, but if I was the kind of person who'd sacrifice strangers for my own power, I'd have a closet full of Philosopher's Stones."

"So you refuse to fight?"

"I refuse to waste time on pointless fighting while Rukia's in danger," I said. "If that means I don't learn your name and can't release your true form, so be it."

"Very well," said the spirit. "You'll learn my name when you stop running."

Suddenly, I was back in front of the wall of black flames.

"Greed, are you okay?" asked Chad.

"Yeah," I said, hesitantly. "We should get moving."

* * *

As the two of us snuck through the Seireitei, I was assailed with second thoughts. Having more power would certainly make rescuing Rukia an easier task. She was bound to be guarded, and them I'd have no choice but to fight. Still, I wasn't about to start taking orders from a sword, certainly not orders that compromised my principles.

Yoruichi had explained that each squad barracks had its own prison. Rukia had been retrieved by the captain and lieutenant of squad six. She had been a member of squad thirteen. She might be in either barracks prison, but, for the moment, both laid in the same direction. With no further flares or signals to follow, all Chad and I could do was keep moving and hope we'd meet up with the others on the way.

The sun was setting as Chad and I approached the point we were going to need directions. It wasn't difficult to find a lone stranger and pull him into a building to be interrogated. It was made even easier thanks to my ability to instantly bind him in conjured ropes with a spell.

"This is called veritasyrum," I explained to Chad as I took the bottle out of my bag. "It's the most powerful truth potion known to man. Three drops and he'll tell us his darkest secrets."

"Sorry about this," said Chad as he held the soul reaper's head still and forced open his mouth.

I flicked three drops into his mouth, and the potion took effect immediately. From our captive, we learned Rukia had been held in the squad six prison, but had been moved to a white tower called the repentance cell. We got detailed directions out of this soul reaper and learned a few more details besides.

Chad and I split the food I'd packed before leaving Kukaku's house while our prisoner spoke. The repentance cell was made of sekiseki stone, so once we got there, the door would be our only option. Said door was on an open bridge, suspended hundreds of feet in the air. We'd be exposed and vulnerable there.

The repentance cell was situated so that the prisoner could see the execution grounds, and the tool that would be used to end their life. It was called the sokyoku, and was a massive halberd said to have the destructive power of a million zanpaktos. The prisoner's soul would be literally burned away.

We still had time before Rukia was to be executed, and at Chad's insistence, the two of us settled in to get some sleep. We'd be no use if we got there and were at less than our best due to fatigue. We slept in shifts, both to watch the prisoner, and to avoid being snuck up on.

* * *

The next morning, I heard sounds outside. Peeking through a window, I could see a group of a dozen soul reapers positioning themselves around the building we'd bedded down in. I shook Chad, but he was sleeping like a stone. Even if I could lift him, there was no way I'd be able to sneak out carrying him.

I dropped an invisibility cloak over Chad's sleeping form and the other over the imprisoned soul reaper. Then I drew by zanpakto. "I need to stand my ground and protect Chad," I said to the blade. "I'm not running."

Rather than wait for the enemy to come to me, I kicked open the door and threw a stunning hex into the nearest soul reaper. That was the only chance they gave me for ranged combat. Three of them closed the distance and attacked me in a coordinated fashion.

I ducked beneath a decapitation swing. That meant a low thrust that had been aimed at my gut was on target for my heart, forcing me to parry the blow. A downward chop from the third soul reaper cut into my left shoulder.

I smiled. All three of them attacking at once had overwhelmed my defense, but it meant they were all open and vulnerable now that they were out of position from their attacks. I used the momentum of the trust meant for my heart to pin the zanpakto in the wooden door frame behind me. In the same motion, I brought my sword up, striking the flat of the blade that had tried to take my head with the cutting edge of mine, slicing his blade in two.

Disarming them hadn't had the effect of making them back off I'd been going for. Instead, it seemed to convince them I had no intention of killing them. For what it was worth, they were right about that. Unfortunately for them, they overestimated how strong my preference that they not die was, and they tried attacking me unarmed.

I shifted to the side to avoid the chop of the still armed soul reaper and slashed across the stomachs of the men trying to grab, punch, and kick at me before their blows could land. Hands from the crowd grabbed their injured comrades and pulled them back from the front line, to be replaced with fresh soul reapers.

While they were cycling out those two, I focused my attention on the one who'd injured me. Blocking his next swing, I pivoted his sword until the tip rested on the stone paving tiles of the street, then I stomped a foot down on the weapon, snapping it in half. With the example of the other two, he wisely shifted out from the front and let someone fresh at me.

Three thrusts came in at me. I stepped over the one aimed at my leg, and triaged the other two. I let the one aimed at my gut hit so I could block the one targeting my chest. Once I'd blocked, I reversed my sword swing, bringing my blade under his guard, between his ribs, and cut deep into his lung.

That took him out of the fight, but pinned my sword. The other two were quick to take advantage of it. An overhead chop threatened to take my arm off, forcing me to let go of my zanpakto to get the arm out of the way. The other soul reaper crouched low to try and slash at my legs. I had to hop to avoid it.

The injured man with my sword stuck in him was shifted back out of reach and a fresh swordsman was shifted forward in his place. All three of them smirked. They thought they'd beat me.

"Acio!" I yelled and my zanpakto dislodged itself from the chest it was stuck in and flew to my waiting hand. Taking advantage of the moment of surprise, I slashed across the wrists of one of the soul reapers facing me, causing him to drop his sword and bleed badly.

The other two roared and came in at me with overhead chops from either side. I stepped inside the guard of the one on my left, catching his wrists with my injured left arm while I blocked the second chop with the sword in my right hand. The instant I'd stopped the momentum of that strike, I slashed my zanpakto across the wide open torso of the man I was holding off with my injured arm.

Weaker than it would have been if I hadn't stopped the momentum of the attack, that soul reaper continued his downward swing, which left a nasty gash across my back. Fortunately, my ribs kept it from going deep enough to harm my organs, but the sliced muscle wasn't going to do my combat effectiveness any favors.

I was breathing heavily as I stumbled away from the swordsman who'd cut me and tried to get my bearings. He had no intention of letting up the pressure and successfully thrust his zanpakto through my right lung. Already bleeding from deep gashes and with who knew what damage from that gut wound, it was only my familiarity with pain from my experiences as a homunculus that kept me thinking instead of being incapacitated.

With my left hand bracing the back of my blade, I pressed my zanpakto down and severed the hand holding the sword stabbed into me at the wrist. I left the sword in me to minimize the amount of blood that got into my injured lung and shifted my grip on my zanpakto to compensate for my injuries as best I could.

While I was half dead from my injuries, the fact that not only hadn't I gone down yet, but I was gripping my sword and scanning for openings made them hesitate. That moment of hesitation earned one of the remaining soul reapers a stab through the gut that I quickly drew back into a defensive posture.

The other two close to me realized the mistake they'd made letting up the pressure and lunged in at me from two sides. I was no longer fast or nimble enough to dodge, so I was forced to block a thrust aimed at my face while letting the other stab into my side near my hip. Prioritizing offense over defense, I slashed through the shoulder and across the chest of the soul reaper who's weapon was out of place after being blocked. That allowed the other soul reaper to free his blade by cutting his way out my back.

I was forced to a knee by this latest injury, but now the three who surrounded me were the only ones left uninjured and still holding their swords. The other uninjured soul reaper was attempting to apply basic first aid to his fallen comrades.

As I blocked a slash that had been aimed for my throat, a slash came in under my left arm, glancing across my ribs, but further weaning that already weak side. The third soul reaper slashed across my right forearm, severing tendons and making the arm useless for holding a sword. Every movement risked aggravating my injuries, but to stop fighting would mean death. Having jarred out of of place the sword that had attempted to slash my throat, I used my weakened left hand to slash that soul reaper across the belly, taking him out of the fight.

At that point, Chad stirred, and shot upright, the invisibility cloak falling off him. That drew the attention of my two remaining opponents, and I was able to summon enough strength to lunge at one of them, impaling him through the chest before the other soul reaper brought down a powerful overhead chop in a bid to end this.

I brought my right arm up in the way. His zanpakto cleaved through the flesh and bone of my forearm, but severing it robbed the blow of its power, so when the sword struck my head, it sliced into my scalp but was stopped by my skull. Chad was on his feet, rushing to my aid. I worked my zanpakto free of the chest of the impaled soul reaper as the last one threw a powerful downward chop I couldn't block in time. Chad's armored right fist closed around the blade and bent it. Having just seen the ferocity I'd fought with and now facing a fresh and uninjured opponent without his sword, the soul reaper stumbled backward and fainted.

I'd been holding it together through sheer force of will. Now that the fight was over, I fell unconscious. As I slipped into unconsciousness, I heard a voice from the zanpakto still gripped in my left hand.

"My name is Tsumi no Rensa."

* * *

Chad wasn't a medical expert, but by the time I'd regained consciousness, he'd wrapped the stump of my right arm, bandaged my back side and shoulder, and was holding a wad of cloth to my head wound.

"Chad," I choked out. "In my bag. Medical supplies."

"Right," he said and began rummaging through my things. I stopped him when he got to the blood replenishing potion and he helped me drink it.

Feeling stronger, I helped him find the diatony, which was able to close all the cuts and stop further blood loss. It also let him pull the sword out of my chest and close that wound relatively safely. Almost put back together again, I had Chad put my severed arm up to my stump. Touching my zanpakto, Tsumi no Rensa, to the intersection, I cast a bone mending spell to reattach the structural components, then a cut healing spell to reattach the damaged soft tissue. Applying a bit of diatony around the arm saw the wound vanish entirely.

"Are you okay?" asked Chad when I'd finished.

"I'm pretty weak," I admitted as I got to my feet. "Everything's sore and tender, but I can walk."

"I'm sorry I didn't wake up sooner," said Chad.

"Don't be," I said. "You saved my life."

* * *

Author's comments:  
This particular group of unseated officers was one that Chad dealt with on his own without any trouble. In terms of skill with a sword and raw spirit energy, any of the unseated officers Greed was facing was his equal. The difference is Greed's a lot more willing to make sacrifice plays. He's used to being able to regenerate any injury he sustains, and he's got the pain tolerance to make those sacrifice plays worthwhile.


	9. Chapter 9: Capture and Escape

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 9) Capture and Escape  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

I sorely missed the regenerative powers of my homunculus body. Spells and potions had put my body back together after that fight, but it was basically a patch job. If I could get some bed rest, I'd make a full recovery, but until then, everywhere I'd been cut was at risk of reopening.

Chad and I were proceeding with care toward the repentance cell under our invisibility cloaks. Somehow, a tall, broad shouldered man noticed us and drew his sword. He identified himself as the third seat of squad eight and set about swinging his sword so fast I could barely follow its movement. Unperturbed, Chad punched him in the face with his armored right arm and sent him flying.

We had drawn our cloaks again and were proceeding with greater caution when suddenly, the disillusionment charms on both cloaks failed, revealing us. Before we had time to look around, a man dropped down in front of us amid a rain of rose petals. He wore a straw hat and had a pink kimono with a floral print draped over his shoulders. Under the kimono, he wore the standard soul reaper uniform, minus the socks. More concerning were the white sleeves of a captain's coat partly hidden by his kimono.

He landed effortlessly on his feet and introduced himself as Shunsui Kyoraku, captain of squad eight. Yoruichi had told us to run if we encountered a captain. The goblin silver pocket watch containing my time turner was in the front pocket of my shirt, and the chain was wrapped around my waist under the shirt. I could escape into the past by just twisting the knob, but that would leave Chad facing a captain alone. Unwrapping the chain from me and putting it around both of us would be an obvious move our adversary couldn't help but notice.

While I racked my brain looking for a way to get both of us out, rose petals continued to fall. Glancing up at the balcony he'd hopped down from, I saw a woman with black hair and glasses tossing down handfuls of rose petals from a large basket.

"Hey, Nanao, enough with the flower petals already," Shunsui called up to her. When she continue to drop down handfuls, he said, "Hm, I guess she didn't hear me. Hey, Nanao, it's very nice, but that's enough set decoration, alright? I think we get the point. Save some for later, my sweet Nanao. Lovely, lovely. Nan-"

At that point, she dumped the entire basket on him, temporarily burying the man. As she did, I was able to make out a badge on her arm identifying her as a lieutenant. Presumably his lieutenant. I had questions about the thirteen court guard squads' status as a military organization. Not only was she not even pretending deference to a superior officer, but the fact that he'd assigned his second in command to so trivial a task in the first place suggested a far looser command structure than I was used to.

"Sorry, but I don't have time to stay and watch your routine," said Chad. "Please, just step aside."

"Awe, come on. Can't you loosen up a little and try to have some fun," said Shunsui. "Life's too short to take it so seriously."

"I have asked you nicely," said Chad. "I'm in kind of a hurry. You seem like a decent enough guy so if there's any way to avoid it, I'd rather not fight you."

Shunsui smirked, saying, "Then I guess we have a slight problem. Since neither one of us is anxious for a fight, but of course, I can't just let you through either. I don't suppose you'd be willing to retreat, would you?"

"You'd just let us go" I asked.

"Why not?" he said. "I mean, you'd actually have to go and not just try and circle around another way."

"I could never do that," said Chad.

"I was planning on circling around another way," I admitted.

"I thought as much," said Captain Kyoraku. "I guess that leaves us no choice." He took out a bottle and a set of three shallow saucers and said, "We'll have to have a friendly drink."

"That's a good idea," I said, reaching into my bag and retrieving three potion bottles. "I'll try yours if you try mine."

"You think I'm trying to poison you?" asked Shunsui.

"I thought that was the game we were playing," I said. "We each drink the other's offered poisons, hoping our own poison kills the other while our endurance protects us from whatever the other was offering."

"That does sound like an interesting game," said Shunsui. "Unfortunately, I really didn't bring anything stronger than alcohol."

"Pity," I said. "I'm a lot more confident in my ability to win that game than I am a straight fight." I popped open two of the potion bottles and took a swig off each. The I offered them to Chad as I put the third bottle away.

"No thanks," said Chad.

"I really think you should drink them," I said.

"It's a rule," affirmed Chad. "Minors are not allowed to drink any alcohol."

"It's actually more like the opposite of alcohol," I said.

Chad paused, then accepted the bottles, downing both. While Chad and I took our potions, Captain Kyoraku filled his saucer and drank, saying, "Thank you. I hate to drink alone. It's just as well. This whole thing will be over soon now that the other captains are on the move."

"The other captains?" said Chad. "You mean Ichigo and the others are being pursued by captains too? That changes things, Mr. Kyoraku. So, I suggest you move. Now."

"And if I refuse?" he asked, taking another drink.

"I'll move you!" declared Chad, punching toward the soul reaper captain and unleashing a powerful blast of energy that tore up the paving tiles as it went.

Without lowering the drink from his lips, Kyoraku raised his other hand, caught Chad's gargantuan blast in his palm, and tossed it aside like it was nothing. The most that happened was the pink kimono blew off his shoulders from the ensuing gust of wind.

"My, my," said Shunsui standing. "I had hoped that we could avoid all this, but here we are."

If he'd deflected Chad's blast that easily, there was no way my stunning hex would work. I needed a powerful dark curse to even have a chance. The unforgivables were out, not because I had any moral compunctions about them, but because I couldn't muster enough hate that I could rely on them being effective. On top of that, the killing curse was unblockable, at least the way he was doing it, but as we were already in the afterlife, I had no way of knowing if it would do anything at all.

The wit sharpening potion I'd taken let me run through my options in the blink of an eye. As such, Shunsui's last words were drowned out by my scream of "Sectumsempra!"

Moving too fast for my eye to follow, he sidestepped my spell, which tore a gouge in the wall behind him. Shunsui hadn't even spilled his drink. Chad and I coordinated our attacks, trying to lure Kyoraku into dodging one right into the other. Kyoraku wasn't just fast, though. His reflexes were such that he seemed capable of dodging attacks that were already in mid-flight.

When we paused, Captain Kyoraku crossed his arms and asked, "So, are you ready to reconsider yet? Surely you can see that this is futile. You have great skills, and your destructive power is impressive, but you're never going to be able to hit me. You're smart enough to realize how this is going to end up. Why don't you go home while you still can?"

"Thanks for the advice, but nothing's going to stop me!" declared Chad charging at Kyoraku to close the distance and limit his chance to dodge.

Seeing his plan, I charged with him. Kyoraku could dodge my spells at range, but he might have more trouble in close quarters combat. It was a thin hope, but it was all I had. Thanks to the strengthening solution that had been in the second bottle, I'd hopefully be able to do some damage if I handed a hit up close. There was only one thing I could think of to do to tip things in my favor, so I called out, "Tsumi no Rensa!"

My zanpakto glowed briefly. Then I was no longer holding a sword, but a length of chain. Without the wit sharpening potion, I'm sure I would have hesitated, unsure what to do with it for the barest instant, which was longer than I could afford. With the potion accelerating my thought processes, however, I spun the chain over my head to build up momentum for when I was close enough to strike.

I brought the chain down with the full power of my enhanced strength and Chad unleashed a point blank blast in Shunsui's face. He dodged both of our attacks as easily as he had our ranged ones. Then he poked Chad in the shoulder with two fingers. A burst of light came from those fingers and Chad was hurled twenty feet, rolling along the ground as he went. The same attack launched me fifty feet and slammed me into a wall with force, reopening hte wounds I had mended. I had just long enough to see Chad starting to stand back up when I lost consciousness.

* * *

When I came to, my wounds had been expertly treated. There wasn't even any lingering soreness or tenderness. My hands were bound with a pair of manacles connected to each other by a short chain. I was in a prison cell with Chad, Uryu, and Ganju. The four of us compared notes.

Chad hadn't lasted much longer in the fight with Captain Kyoraku than I had, though Kyoraku had drawn his swords before taking Chad down. Uryu had battled Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who's sword's released form came with a paralytic toxin. Overcoming the paralysis with a quincy technique of some sort, he'd forced Kurotsuchi to release his sword's second form.

Apparently, zanpakto have two levels of release, shikai, which I'd achieved just before being taken down, and bankai. Mayuri's bankai was a giant, poison spewing monster that Uryu had managed to overcome, forcing Mayuri to retreat. Due to injuries sustained in the fight, Uryu had been easy prey for Captain Kamane Tosen, one of the two soul reapers from my foeglass. Tosen had used some kind of sonic attack from his sword's shikai to instantly knock Uryu out.

Ganju had actually reached Rukia. Aided by a fourth division soul reaper named Hanataro, he and Ichigo had made it most of the way before being confronted by Captain Kenpachi Zaraki while Ganju and Hanataro reached the repentance cell. They'd been confronted by Captain Byakuya Kuchki, Rukia's brother, who defeated Ganju with his shikai. Byakuya's shikai apparently involved separating the blade of his sword into a thousand sharpened flechette fragments controlled by his spirit energy.

I spared a moment to feel cheated in terms of my shikai. Then it was back to analyzing our current situation. The soul reapers had disarmed us, and the manacles we wore sealed our spirit energy. Ichigo, Orihime, and Yoruichi weren't here, though whether that meant they were still free or they'd been killed was an open question. No one wanted to think about the later possibility, so I kept those thoughts to myself. The other me was still out there, but without the communication mirror hidden in my watch, I had no way to contact him.

Based on things we were able to overhear from the guards, we'd been treated and kept alive because the soul reapers wanted to question us about a murder. Apparently, shortly after we infiltrated the Seireitei, Captain Soske Aizen had been found dead. Aizen had been the other soul reaper besides Tosen to appear in my foeglass, but what that meant in terms of his recent death, I couldn't say.

Our options were very limited. The only advantage I had was that the soul reapers hadn't thought to use restraints that prevented me from clapping my hands. Alchemy isn't fueled by spirit energy, so the manacles didn't interfere with my ability to transmute. As I'd explained to Kiske Urahara, my alchemy based abilities only worked on matter, mostly. In this world, without an atom of matter to work with, I had two tricks left.

If I could touch the head of one of the guards, unlikely as it was they'd give me the chance, I could alter their mind. I could tweak their mood, alter their memory, even enslave them completely. I hated the very idea of that power so much I'd managed to convince myself it was impossible for a brief period in school. Professor Flitwick had convinced me to develop the ability by reminding me that just because I had a power didn't mean I had to use it.

The other option was that I could open the Gate. By entering the Gate, I could navigate between worlds, and I'd become experienced enough with the process that I could use it to get out of this cell without any difficulty. And if the soul reapers had put me in a single occupancy cell, that's precisely what I would have done. The problem was, with Ganju, Uryu, and Chad, I wouldn't be able to navigate through and protect the three of them from the grasping hands of the Gate Children trying to take pieces of htem at the same time. I had an array that would be able to shield them from that and allow me to travel out alone and then break them out conventionally, but with no normal matter to transmute, there was no way I could prepare that array without the guards noticing and realizing we were up to something.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, carefully crafting a memory of me explaining these two tricks. In the memory, I was sitting across from the observer, calmly explaining the limitations and risks of both techniques, as well as the fact that I was using hte memory implant technique I was describing to give these explanations in a way the guards couldn't overhear. Then I clapped and grabbed Uryu's head.

When I let go, Uryu nodded his head and said, "I understand."

I did the same to Chad, who nodded as well. Ganju freaked out and tried to get away from me, but Chad and Uryu held him down while I implanted the explanation into his memory as well.

"You could've warned me what you were going to do!" exclaimed Ganju.

"No, I couldn't, and you know why," I countered.

Letting out a breath and taking a seat on one of the beds, Ganju said, "Anyway, I doubt they'll give you a chance to pull that trick on a guard, and the other one's too dangerous to use."

"There's still time before Rukia's execution," said chad. "We might get a chance in the meantime, or one of the others might arrive to break us out. I say we wait."

Uryu nodded. "If we're lucky, they'll take us to separate cells to interrogate us. Then the only ones around you will be enemies you won't have to worry about protecting."

* * *

We watched for opportunities. The four of us slept in shifts in case the guards got sloppy on the night shift. No attempts were made to interrogate us, either individually or as a group. Apparently, they were waiting on other aspects of the investigation or wanted us all captured before they started. Either way, no chances presented themselves.

Things were getting down to the wire. Rukia's execution date had been inexplicably moved up. The urgent insistence on carrying out her execution didn't follow. If this was a normal criminal matter, there would be no reason to change the day. If they suspected she was involved in some larger conspiracy, they'd want to keep her alive to interrogate her. If this was about our rescue attempt, they'd actually be interrogating us before her execution so they could compare our story to what she said. What this really looked like was that someone really wanted he dead as a goal in itself. That whatever this was tied into Aizen and Tosen somehow seemed a certainty.

I was giving some thought to opening the Gate as the morning of the execution dawned. I couldn't protect all four of us from the Gate Children, but I could protect one person as I navigated us through. If I left the other two behind, there was a chance the Gate Children wouldn't take anything vital and the soul reaper healers could keep them from bleeding out. As t he only one of us who could fight on par with a soul reaper captain, Uryu was the obvious choice of who to take with me.

As I opened my mouth to present this conclusion, the ceiling of our cell broke open raining debris down and forcing us to dodge aside. I clapped my hands together as the only even potentially useful preparation I could do in t he face of an unknown threat. When the dust cleared, a large man was standing there. He wore a soul reaper uniform including a tattered white captain's coat. His hair was shaped into long spikes, each of which had a silent bell attached to the tip. He had a scarred face and an eye patch.

"It's-it's you," gasped Ganju. "How can this be? I never wanted to see you again, Captain Kenpachi Zaraki!"

At that point, two men stepped out from behind the captain. One was a bald soul reaper with eye makeup who didn't wear the uniform's two toed socks. The other had black hair, a pair of feathers decorating his right eyebrow and eyelash, and an odd, orange collar attached to a similarly colored sleeve on his right arm. Ganju recognized the later man as well.

"Not you too! I remember your stupid haircut and your massive ego!"

"I wish I could say the same," replied the soul reaper, holding up his sheathed zanpakto for emphasis. "I have a good memory for the faces I've seen, with the exception of the ugly ones."

While Ganju and the soul reaper postured at one another, Orihime climbed up the captain's back to look over his shoulder. She was unharmed, and wearing a black soul reaper uniform. She smiled broadly on sighting us.

"Oh, hey, Uryu, Chad, Ganju, and Greed! I'm so glad to see the four of you are all okay."

Then she took on a pained expression and was pulled down out of sight, calling out, "Ow, Yachiru! Stop! Stop! Stop!"

Rushing around the captain, who didn't seem hostile, we saw a small girl with short pink hair wearing a soul reaper uniform was hanging off Orihime and swinging, giggling all the while. After that was resolved, we got a quick explanation. Kenpachi didn't care one way or the other about our mission to rescue Rukia. He and his people, the little girl, Yachiru, was his lieutenant, were breaking us out because Kenpachi'd had so much fun fighting Ichigo that he wanted a rematch, and helping us seemed like a path to getting one. None of us were in a position to look a gift horse in the mouth.

With deadly speed and precision, the soul reapers cut the manacles off our wrists. My spirit energy now available to me again, I called out, "Acio, Tsumi no Rensa!" and my zanpakto flew from wherever it was being stored, down the hall, through the bars of the cell and into my waiting hand. The sword was different than I remembered. Its blade was a few inches longer and the cross guard, which had previously been plain now sported an engraved design of linked chains forming a circle around the base of the blade. I knew this was the correct sword because I had summoned it by name, and because I could hear its voice assuring me of its identity.

The bald soul reaper, Ikaku, cut open the bars of our prison cell, and the one with the orange collar, Yumichika, directed us to get dressed in soul reaper uniforms. As we complied, I summoned my other possessions, my silver pocket watch and my satchel. Glancing inside the later, I verified that when Captain Kyoraku slammed me into that wall, all my potion bottles had shattered. I swept up the broken manacles and tossed them into my bag on the off chance they'd come in handy. Then, our party linked up with another of Kenpachi's subordinates outside, and the captain ran through the streets.

Lieutenant Yachiru directed our party through the streets, but in no time, we hit a dead end. Yachiru was visibly upset. Uryu and Orihime tried to placate her, but Ikaku outright declared we shouldn't be following someone with no sense of direction. In response, Yachiru leapt off her traditional perch, clinging to Kenpachi's back, and bit Ikaku's head.

Suddenly, Yumichika got a serious look on his face that said he'd noticed something. "Captain," said Yumichika stepping forward to alert Kenpachi.

"Yes," acknowledged Captain Zaraki. Then to the unseen individuals, "You should be ashamed of yourselves, boys, sneaking around like that. Show yourselves. Hiding your spiritual pressure in order to stalk others is no way for a captain to act."

Then I sensed spirit energy for the first time. It was as if the air had become thicker, and a weight was pressing down on me. It was more of an effort to breathe. That feeling of pressure resolved itself into waves radiating from four sources, two much stronger than the other two.

"Your arrogance knows no bounds, Kenpachi," came a voice from the direction of one of the powerful presences I felt. "To talk that way, given what you appear to be involved in."

Thanks to this sense, my head was already turned in the right direction when the four soul reapers stepped onto the roof on one of the walls. Two captains and two lieutenants. Kaname Tosen was one of the captains. The other wore a face concealing helmet, as well as armored boots, gauntlets, and shoulder pauldrons. One lieutenant wore sunglasses and had short black hair. The other had unkempt black hair and a number of tattoos including one of the number 69 on his cheek. The tattooed soul reaper had modified his uniform to be sleeveless.

"What are you doing with these Ryoka?" demanded Captain Tosen. "Did you lose your self respect when you were defeated?"

The subordinate of Captain Zaraki who's name I hadn't caught yet identified the other captain as Captain Komumura, and the two lieutenants as Iba and Hisagi. Yumichika and the obviously frightened soul reaper argued strategy when Kenpachi interrupted.

"Quit whining. Who ever said any of you are going to be in this fight in the first place? After all, even taking these guys on four against one won't give my blade much more than a little practice."

In response, the four of them moved from their perch on the roof to stand before Zaraki so fast they seemed to teleport.

"Four to one, you say," said the armored Captain Komumura. "So, you think you are good enough to fight all of us by yourself, Kenpachi? Though your strength is well known, Captain, it is no match for your excessive self confidence as you will soon learn."

"You talk too much, Sajin," said Kenpachi, drawing his sword. I winced to see the cracked and chipped blade Kenpachi wielded. Zanpakto were sentient, and I could almost hear his weapon crying out in pain.

"Not almost," came the voice of my zanpakto. "The cries of pain you're hearing are the voice of his zanpakto screaming so loud even people other than its wielder can hear."

No time to contemplate that disturbing thought, Kenpachi continued, "Just hurry up and fight already. And the four of you had better attack at the same time. If you come at me from all four sides, then one of you might actually be able to wound me."

"Uh, Captain, sir," began the subordinate who's name I didn't know, "uh, what about us? What'll we do, sir?"

"Go!" ordered Kenpachi. "You'll just get in the way."

"Okay, okay, but he didn't have to be so mean about it," said the soul reaper.

Lieutenant Yachiru stepped in and said, "Come on, get over it Whiskers. Kenny's happy right now. Believe me, you don't want to do anything to mess with that." Turning to her captain, Yachiru cheerfully called out, "We're gonna go now. We'll go find Ichigo and you catch up later. Okay, Kenny?"

"I'll be right there," said Kenpachi confidently.

"Muscles, Jiggles, Monkey, Spikey, Pencil," said Yachiru, referring to Chad, Orihime, Ganju, myself, and Uryu respectively, "let's get going!"

We followed Yachiru away from the battlefield. Once we'd made good our escape, Ikaku and Yumichika turned back to assist their captain. The rest of us prssed on toward the execution grounds, hoping we weren't too late.

A brilliant light appeared at Sokyoku Hill, the site of the execution, visible for miles around due to its position on an elevated plateau. Yachiru explained that the light was from the release of the Sokyoku, and that the execution had begun. Yachiru raced ahead, calling back that she'd take care of the strong opponents and leave the weak ones for us when we caught up. I ordered the others to hurry ahead and sprinted into a nearby building, clapping my hands as I went. Once I was alone, I opened the Gate.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Even with everything going in his favor, Greed had no chance against a captain. There were a lot of concepts that got dropped from Bleach as it evolved, but I was always quite fond of those manacles the Ryoka get slapped on them when they were put in a cell. There were so many times that taking someone alive and making sure they were disabled would have been handy.


	10. Chapter 10: Aizen's Speech

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 10) Aizen's Speech  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Above Sokyoku Hill, the Gate of Truth appeared. The great, stone double doors swung open and I leaped out, avoiding the grasping, shadowy hands of the Gate Children. The Gate swung closed and vanished, and I drew my zanpakto.

I'd been careful to open the Gate high enough in the air that no one below would be exposed to the infinite source of knowledge that was the Truth. My enemies already had enough advantages over me. As I plummeted, I assessed the situation.

Rukia was tied up at the base of the execution stand. I identified five captains and four lieutenants below, including Captain Kyoraku and Lieutenant Nanao. There was no way I was winning a straight fight.

The Sokyoku was unmistakable. Standing upright and bound by heavy ropes, the execution blade was a ten story tall halberd said to possess the destructive power of a million zanpakto. A group of masked men were performing a ritual around it. The light we'd seen from a distance was an inferno of bright blue spirit energy surrounding the men and the Sokyoku. Disrupting that ritual might buy time for Yachiru and the others to get here.

I couldn't take the risk of the visible spirit energy acting as a shield against my attack. I focused, channeling all my spirit energy into my zanpakto just like I'd learned to do with Kukaku Shiba's cannon ball, then I called out the incantation of the strongest dark curse I could expect to work. "Sectumsempra!"

I could see an arc of white light lance out from my zanpakto, cut a path through the blue spirit energy of the ritual, and strike one of the ritualists. A deep gash opened up in his chest where my curse hit, and he collapsed to the ground. The others halted their ritual. My plan had worked. Now I just had to hope backup arrived before these captains and lieutenants killed me.

I threw a cushioning charm below me and landed on my feet in a defensive posture. Rukia gasped in recognition once I was down. One of the captains, a bald man with a long white beard leaning on a walking stick looked at me, and I collapsed to the ground under the weight of his spiritual pressure. It was stronger than the entire party of captains and lieutenants Kenpachi had taken on combined. I struggled to breathe as the old man spoke.

"Ryoka, the prisoner Rukia Kuchki has made as her final request that the lives of you and your friends be spared, and that you be returned safely to the world of the living. You can do nothing to prevent the execution from proceeding. Stand down."

One of the lieutenants, a grey haired woman, rushed to the side of the man I'd attacked. She attempted to close his wounds with healing magic, but the powerful dark curse I'd used resisted conventional healing spells. That delayed the process only long enough for the grey haired lieutenant to call her captain over. The black haired captain wore her hair in an odd braid around her neck and down the front of her body stepped forward, quickly analyzed the energy still festering in the wound, devised a counter, and administered treatment right there. Watching her quickly and efficiently undo a completely foreign curse was the second most terrifying thing about this situation, right after the old man who's spiritual pressure was presently crushing me without him having moved an inch.

With their injured man back on his feet far too quickly for my liking, they finished the ritual for unsealing the Sokyoku. Three blocks on the execution stand rose up, linking to Rukia's hands and feet like magnets and raised her up to the top of the execution stand, level with the Sokyoku's blade. The enormous halberd burst into flames and transformed into a massive firebird. My best effort had delayed the execution by mere seconds.

But in those seconds, Ichigo arrived. Wearing an unfamiliar brown cape, he was flying between Rukia and the Sokyoku with his zanpakto raised in a defensive position. As the fire bird charged, Ichigo counter charged. In the same instant, a captain with a pale complexion and long, white hair arrived on the scene with a pair of subordinates. The newly arrived captain hurled a pole attached to a rope over the neck of the Sokyoku. Said rope was attached to a wooden shield. Captain Kyoraku stepped forward to stand beside the newly arrived captain as Ichigo paused in his charge. The grey haired lieutenant identified the new arrival as Captain Ukitake.

A slender, female captain with a harsh expression on her face ordered her lieutenant, a heavyset man with a lot of gold jewelry and a purple collar, "Stop them! They'll destroy the Sokyoku!"

She was too late. Kyoraku and Ukitake both stabbed their zanpakto into the shield, and spirit energy ran up the ropes. When they reached the fire bird, it exploded, raining fist sized chunks of fire down on everyone below. One hit my back square, but the spiritual pressure still paralyzing me overwhelmed my sense of touch, so I didn't notice any pain beyond my current suffocation.

Ichigo took advantage of all eyes being on the two captains to destroy the execution stand and free Rukia. That attack drew the attention of the soul reapers, who were plainly shocked by the act. That distraction allowed a new soul reaper to cut down the masked men who'd released the Sokuoku. He had red hair pulled back into a spikey pony tail. His hairline included a massive widow's peak. Rather than try to cover up this feature, he'd gotten forehead tattoos that emphasized it. Ichigo called out to him.

"It's about time, Renji!"

"Renji!" called out Rukia, having recognized him.

"Rukia!" Renji called back.

"Oh, Renji, it's you! I'm so glad you're still alive!" said Rukia.

"I figured you'd show up," said Ichigo.

"What choice did I have? I couldn't just rely on you to save Rukia, could I?"

Then Ichigo did something so shockingly reckless, I started breathing again. He hurled Rukia face first like a javelin at Renji. There was enough force behind that throw that Renji dug a trench as he was pushed back from the impact. After being yelled at by the two of them, Ichigo ordered Renji to get Rukia to safety.

As Renji ran away carrying Rukia, the hard faced woman ordered the lieutenants to stop them. Three of them complied, with Nanao staying with Kyoraku. Ichigo got in the way, using the same high speed movement technique I'd seen the soul reapers fighting Kenpachi use. They released their zanpakto, but Ichigo easily took them all down barehanded before raising his zanpakto to block Captain Byakuya Kuchki, who's movements were too fast for me to see.

The hard faced female captain beat down Captain Ukitake's subordinates. Ukitake tried to step in, identifying the captain as Soi Fon in the process. The old man stepped in the way. With his attention off me, I could breathe normally and move my limbs again.

"No one move," ordered the old man just as I was about to try standing. Ukitake acknowledged him as Head Captain Yamamoto. "This crime, a lieutenant freeing a convicted criminal, and aiding her escape will be solved by capturing the treasonous officer and putting him to death. Thus his fate is sealed. But that is the least of our problems. What you two captains have done here today is a crime of far greater magnitude. Surely you both understand that your actions are unforgivable."

Kyoraku took Ukitake by the shoulder and they disappeared in a burst of high speed movement. Nanao followed likewise and Yamamoto pursued. Ichigo and Byakuya were clashing, leaving two captains unoccupied. The one who'd healed my sectumsempra tended to the injured, and Soi Fon approached me. She stepped on my chest, and I could feel my ribs cracking. Fortunately, she decided to kill me slowly, as that left time for an unexpected rescuer to arrive. A dark skinned, purple haired woman with an orange jacket tackled the captain off me and dragged her off the nearby cliff in one motion.

Against a captain, I was worse than useless. I was likely to be a distraction to Ichigo. So, I scrambled to my feet, rushed to the opposite side of the cliff Soi Fon had just gone over, and jumped off. With another cushioning charm, I landed safely in front of Renji, who'd taken the stairs down. I joined him in fleeing the scene, introducing myself as we ran.

* * *

When the Sokyoku's seal was released, it was visible from the Rukon District. My homunculus self looked up from his reading and swore. The rescue mission had failed. Rukia was dead. Now the only thing to do was find a way to rescue any of the survivors from the rescue party.

Kukaku had the same thought and asked if I was coming. The two of us headed for the gate to the Seireitei. I left Loki at the Shiba house. On our way to the gate, we linked up with Jidanbo. The guardian giant of the west gate had fully recovered from the injuries Captain Gin Ichimaru inflicted on him. Jidanbo opened the gate and he, Kukaku Shiba, and I all entered the Seireitei unopposed.

The streets were laid out like a maze, complete with dead ends and empty lanes with nothing but blank walls on either side. We avoided getting lost by jumping from rooftop to rooftop and heading for the Sokuoku Hill in a straight line. Days after the initial assault, and with the rescue thwarted, the soul reapers were caught off guard. There was no concentration of forces to oppose us and we were moving too fast for any meaningful pursuit.

Kaien's old schoolbooks had given me a better idea of what I would be facing. Trained soul reapers were capable of short bursts of intense speed using a technique called shunpo, or flash step. This technique didn't grant them superhuman reflexes, and combat between two practitioners was as much about predicting the opponent's movements as it was overwhelming their reaction times. Soul reapers did have superhuman reaction time as a product of their spirit energy, but they trained to fight one or more steps beyond that reaction time. The upside of all this was that with my red stone enhanced strength and speed, I might still be able to land an attack on a high level opponent if I could take advantage of the element of surprise.

Kukaku wa able to identify several battles going on throughout the Seireitei. Three of the captains were fighting amongst themselves in an abandoned part of town. Ichigo was fighting a captain on Sokyoku Hill. Yoruichi was fighting another captain at hte base of that cliff.

When I asked if we should split up, Kukaku laughed and said we should all go to help Ichigo and that Yoruichi could take care of herself. As we pressed on, Kukaky explained that despite the masculine voice, Yoruichi was a woman, and a former captain of the thirteen court guard squads to boot. Her cat form was essentially an animagus transformation, and she was likely fighting in human form.

* * *

"You're a lieutenant, right?" I asked Renji as we fled Sokyoku Hill.

"That's right. What of it?" replied Renji.

"That means you've got like ten times as much spirit energy as me, right?"

"More than that, amateur," said Renji.

"So why can I keep pace with you?" I asked.

"Idiot," declared Renji. "If I exerted my spirit energy to enhance my speed, it would be like sending up a flare to anyone with the ability to sense spirit energy."

"If we're going for stealth over speed," I said, reaching into my satchel. I retrieved a pair of invisibility cloaks and draped one over Renji's shoulders as we ran.

"What are these?" asked Rukia.

"Captain Kyoraku destroyed my two good invisibility cloaks," I explained. "These are old, but they're better than nothing."

I pulled my cloak closed and took on the vague color and texture of the fortunately nearly identical walls and floor tiles. Renji pulled the cloak over himself and Rukia. Someone watching carefully would be able to notice us moving, but from a distance we'd look like nothing more than a distortion, even at a dead run.

Renji knew his way around the Seireitei, and I followed his lead. That the spirit energy from the various battles was getting more distant was a comfort. That the intensity of those battles was increasing was not. Suddenly, two of the battles, the ones involving Yoruichi and Ichigo stopped. My spiritual senses were too new and untrained to tell who had won.

In a flash of high speed movement, Captain Kaname Tosen was standing in front of Renji and I. His captain's coat was gone, but the only sign of actual injury from his fight with Kenpachi was a bandaged right shoulder. The one person even a perfect invisibility cloak would be useless against, Tosen was blind. Renji and I stopped on a dime.

"Captain Tosen, what's wrong?" asked Renji. "Please let me by. I'm in a hurry."

"He's the enemy!" I yelled, drawing my zanpakto. "Silencio!"

The silencing charm would protect us from the instantly incapacitating sonic attack of his zanpakto. Tosen's eyebrows raised in surprise under his visor. Renji shifted Rukia in his arms so he could draw his zanpakto. With Tosen's trump card disabled, hopefully, Renji would be able to deal with him.

Regaining his composure, Kaname Tosen took a long strip of white cloth in his left hand and held it up. The cloth was lifted in a breeze I couldn't feel and swirled into a dome around Tosen, Rukia, Renji, and me. I recognized the disorienting feeling of compression that accompanied apparition. When the cloth withdrew, we were back on Sokyoku Hill.

Renji had to take a knee from the disorienting trip. Tosen and I were still standing, facing eachother. That I could hear Renji coughing was a bad sign. My silencing charm had been left behind while we apparated. Another dome of cloth opened up, revealing Captain Gin Ichimaru and the supposedly dead Captain Soske Aizen.

"Welcome, Renji," said Aizen. "Leave Rukia where she is, Renji, and back away."

I tried to recast my silencing spell. I tried to shout a warning. But I was once again overwhelmed by spiritual pressure. These three captains had less of an effect on me than Yamamoto had. I could still breathe in shallow gasps and my feet stayed under me, but otherwise, my body was paralyzed. My zanpkato only stayed in my hands because my fingers couldn't move enough to drop it.

Renji's greater spirit energy let him ignore the spiritual pressure, but Rukia was actually in worse shape than I was. Renji had risked his life to rescue her. He wasn't about to hand her over now.

At that moment, a voice sounded that both instances of me could hear. From the expressions of the those around me, I could confirm they were hearing it too.

"All court guard squad captains, lieutenants, and seated officers, may I have your attention please. And also, the Ryoka. This is squad four lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu with an urgent announcement. Listen closely as the message will not be repeated. This is an emergency report from Captain Unohana regarding the traitor in our midst. As grim as the following facts are, what I'm about to tell you is the truth.

"Soske Aizen is alive. He faked his death with the assistance of Gin Ichimaru and Kaname Tosen. Aizen murdered and has been impersonating Central 46. The execution order for Rukia Kuchki was a fabrication. After a confrontation in the Central 46 chambers, Lieutenant Momo Hinamori and Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya are in critcal condition.

"Be advised, all three traitor captains are currently at the execution grounds on Sokyoku Hill."

Renji and Aizen stared one another down. "I refuse to let her go," repeated Renji.

"Very well, then," said Aizen. Gin reached for his sword, but Aizen waved him off. "That won't be necessary, Gin. You are stubborn, Renji. Since you won't let go of her and stand down as I have ordered you, I have no choice. But I'll take your feelings into consideration, and I will let you have your way. She can stay in your arms. The rest of you goes."

Aizen slashed at Renji. The lieutenant managed to hop backward out or range, but not before taking a nasty gash to his arm.

"My, my," said Aizen. "I can see your defensive skills have improved a great deal, Renji Abarai. I am happy to see that you've continued to progress, but I hope you won't struggle for too long. It's difficult for me to control my power. It's difficult to step on ants without crushing them. And as your former superior, I would prefer not to kill you if I don't have to."

This was Voldemort and his damn speeches all over again. The smug bastard, secure in his superiority, was taunting us. He'd orchestrated Rukia's execution, turned her own brother against her, and now he was giving a speech. I wasn't going to just stand there and take this. I pushed back against his spiritual pressure with everything I had, forcing my body to move. I was sluggish, but at least I was no longer utterly paralyzed.

"Yeah right," said Renji. "You don't want to kill me? Then what about Momo? You killed her in cold blood."

Aizen smirked. "What happened to Momo couldn't be helped. I had trained her so that she couldn't live without me, so don't you think that killing her was an act of mercy? Still, what I said is true. I did not want to kill her myself. That's why I went to all the trouble of forging the letter, leading her to attack Izuru and Toshiro, but that didn't work out, so I had no choice. I had to finish her myself."

With every word, proudly revealing the people he'd manipulated to bring us to this point, I felt the white hot rage that had let me force my body into motion turn to seething hatred. My spirit energy was nothing compared to his. Aizen didn't even glance in my direction. There was only one spell in my arsenal that had a chance of working. A spell that couldn't be resisted or blocked by conventional means. A spell powered by hatred, which Aizen was helpfully stoking the flames of. It might not work on a spirit being, but this was the perfect time to find out. I choked out the words, "Adava kedavra!"

A bolt of gree light fired from the tip of my zanpakto, right on target. Aizen made no effort to dodge the killing curse, allowing it to strike him square in the chest. The bolt of green death wasn't slowed down by his aura, impacting like I'd seen happen altogether too many times during the war with Voldemort. Aizen was completely unaffected.

Though my curse did nothing Renji took it as a starting pistol. He leapt into the air, calling out, "Roar, Sabemaru!" His shikai took the form of a segmented blade, each segment containing a piercing spike. The segments were linked together by rows of fine chains, allowing Renji to extend Sabemaru out like a whip or retract it as he saw fit.

Aizen halted Renji's blade with his bare hand and sliced the chains connecting the segments of the weapon using his zanpakto. Closing the distance in the blink of an eye, Aizen cut through my left shoulder, through the collar bone, and into my left lung, slicing through several ribs as he went. Then, in another instant, he was in front of Renji, having inflicted a similar wound on him, though not as deep.

Aizen got back to giving his speech, but I ignored it in favor of mending my bones so as to prevent my body from literally falling apart under its own weight. The soft tissue damage and the blood loss would have to wait. For his part, Renji was still holding Rukia protectively.

Raising his blade, execution style, to finish off Renji, Aizen's blade was blocked by Ichigo. He'd entered the scene so fast, it was only by inference I assumed he'd moved to get here. Ichigo's zanpakto had changed again. It was now the size and shape of a normal sword, with a jet black blade and a short chain extending from the hilt. This was his bankai.

At some point, Ichigo had traded the top half of his soul reaper uniform for a black long coat. The coat was tight, nearly form fitting for his arms and chest, while the bottom part billowed open. Ichigo and his new coat had a number of cuts and gashes, blood staining his coat, especially around the shoulders, but it didn't look like any injuries he may have particularly bothered him.

Ichigo and Renji hopped back from Aizen and bantered a bit with one another. While they did so, Gin Ichimaru apologized to Aizen for letting Ichigo through, ut noted he didn't think Aizen wanted him to interfere. Something about that didn't ring true. Aizen, now revealed to have been manipulating the other soul reapers from the start, had appeared in my foegless. Tosen, now revealed to be a co-conspirator, had likewise appeared there. Gin Ichimaru hadn't. All the other soul reapers we'd been fighting had been manipulated, so it made sense my foeglass didn't classify them as enemies. Gin held back when driving us away fro the west gate, and now he'd let Ichigo, who'd already beaten Captain Kenpachi Zaraki and Byakuya Kuchki, by him without a fight so he could cross swords with Aizen. Was he actually on our side?

When Ichigo and Renji coordinated an attack on Aizen, I focused on Tosen. My left arm was hanging limp and useless at my side, and damage to my lung had me coughing up blood, but I could, if nothing else, cast a fresh silencing charm and eliminate the threat of his shikai. If Gin was waiting for a moment of vulnerability to step in and help, I'd do what I could to provide it. If he was actually on their side and had somehow fooled my foeglass, we were screwed anyway.

Renji used a technique that levitated the separated segments of his zanpakto, turned all their piercing points inward, and shot every segment at Aizen. Ichigo rushed in at Aizen with speed I couldn't begin to follow. I pointed my zanpakto at Tosen. I'd hoped casting the spell wordlessly in the middle of the distraction that was Ichigo and Renji's combined attack would give me enough element of surprise to land the spell. It wasn't.

Aizen blocked Ichigo's zanpakto with one finger, then slashed him across the stomach down to his spine. Only Ichigo's immense spirit energy prevented his spine from detaching. At the same time, Tosen flickered out of sight, dodging my spell with his high speed movement technique, only to appear right in front of me and cut my zanpakto in half. Deliberately exherting his aura, Tosen forced me to my hands and knees. No help was coming from Gin.

With another flash of speed, Aizen cut Renji down, then casually strolled over to Rukia. Gripping Rukia by the collar on her neck that had been part of her restraints before Ichigo rescued her, Aizen pulled her to her feet.

"Come now, stand up, Rukia Kuchki. Hm, I see. My spiritual pressure has caused your body to go limp." Aizen glanced at Ichigo who was trying to force himself up on pure willpower. It wasn't happening. Aizen taunted, "Poor, doomed thing. Is he actually still conscious? Your stamina is amazing, but your spine is barely connected to your body. You should lie still. At any rate, you have each served your purpose. Your job in all this is done now."

"What job is done?" choked Ichigo.

I tamped down my annoyance that Ichigo had given the egotistical asshole an opening to keep talking. Much as I hated listening to these psychopaths drone on and on about how clever they were, keeping him talking served a purpose. Word of Aizen's treason had spread throughout the Seireitei. The longer he talked, the longer any potential allies had to get here and save us.

"That's correct. I knew you were coming. I even knew from where. I knew you would arrive in the west Rukon District. That's why I had security incresed there, with squad members stationed at the gate. I had Gin go there as well in case something went wrong. I lowered the wall around the Seireitei right after our arrival and placed third and ninth squads behind the gate. I knew the only way you'd be able to get in would be with Kukaku Shiba's Flower Crane Cannon. A very flashy entrance that everyone would notice. A bold approach.

"It helped that you Ryoka were skilled enough to get past the captains. As a result, the eyes of all the soul reapers were focused only on you. The perfect diversion. Your actions after you entered the court and all the turmoil that you caused were actually quite impressive. As a result, there wasn't much fuss at all over me when I faked my own death. You made it easy for me to make my move."

"But, hold on," gasped Ichigo. "How did you know for sure that we were going to come in through the west Rukon District in the first place?"

"That's an odd question for you to ask," said Aizen. "Where else could you possibly have entered? The western Rukon District is Kiske Urahara's headquarters after all. It's the only place you can break through with his senkaimon. Why do you find that so surprising? After all you work for him, don't you? Surely the reason you're here in the first place is to retrieve Rukia Kuchki under his orders.

"Oh, I see. You poor boy. You weren't told anything, were you? Oh well. Since this is the end anyway, I'll tell you one last thing. Did you know that soul reapers have four basic fighting methods? Zanjutsu, hakuda, hoho, and kido. These are the four, but there is a limit to how strong a soul reaper can become in any one of them. No matter which of the techniques he chooses, there comes a point at which he will have mastered it. And all his growth will stop there. As a soul reaper, he has reached his limit.

"However, for some it is possible to get past that wall and to exceed the limit that's built into all four techniques. And to do that, there's only one way. The soul reaper has to be come a hollow. Either that, or a hollow can become like a soul reaper. Either way, what is required is the removal of the barrier between those two opposing existences. That is the key to making a spirit's power even greater.

"In theory, the idea seemed plausible, so I studied it in secret. I started testing, focusing mostly on the transformation of hollows into soul reapers. I was successful in creating hollows which came close. Hollows that could hide their spiritual pressure, even one that could fuse with other soul reapers. But in the end, none of them worked out as well as I'd hoped. It appeared the theory was was only that, destined never to be a reality.

"But, Kiske Urahara succeeded where I had failed. The mechanism he invented removes the barrier dividing hollow and soul reaper, instantly making one into the other. It defied all logic within the Soul Society. It's called, Hogyoku. I knew immediately how dangerous it was. I think Urahara felt the same way. He tried to destroy it, but he was unable to find a way to undo his own creation. Instead, he reluctantly resorted to another method.

"He created a shield around the hogyoku and activated it. Then he enveloped it deep within a konpaku in order to try to conceal its location from anyone hwo would want to use it for evil." Turning to Rukia, Aizen said, "You know, don't you? You know that's why I want you. Because the place Urahara decided to hide the hogyoku is inside you.

"When I learned you had disappeared in the world of the living, I realized right away that Urahara had something to do with it. All soul reapers in gigai are traceable by the Soul Society, no matter where they go. This is because of the gigai's healing energy. But the gigai Urahara gave you was different, created by him without reshi. As a result, it was untraceable. For this offense, Urahara was cast out of the Soul Society.

"There is also one other reason Urahara was exiled. A gigai like the one he gave you, one without reshi, will constantly break down and devour the reshi of the soul reaper using it. He will never be able to completely recover his power. It will fade, and eventually, the connection with the gigai will dim. finally, the soul reaper is reduced to a mere human.

"Do you understand? Urahara didn't give you any strength. He didn't help you at all. He used you, Rukia Kuchki. He turned you into a human just so he could hide the hogyoku. Fortunately, before it was too late, you were found in the human world and arrested.

"I went immediately to Central 46 and killed-"

Finally, backup had arrived to put a stop to this interminable speech. Aizen had said some interesting things, which I'd obviously need to fact check, but I was relieved it was over. I was still loosing blood from my shoulder wound, and both Ichigo and Renji were worse off than I was.

Our savior was Captain Sajin Komomura, the armored soul reaper who'd fought Kempachi alongside Tosen. His helmet was gone, revealing Sajin wasn't human in appearance like most of the other soul reapers. He was some kind of anthropomorphic wolf. Maybe a victim of a transfiguration accident, maybe a nonhuman soul from the start. He had yellow eyes and brown-red fur. And he looked pissed.

"Aizen!" Komomura yelled and swung his sword down. As he swung, a ghostly, disembodied, gigantic arm wielding a sword as long as Jidanbo was tall mimicked Captain Komomura's swing, coming down at Aizen's head.

When the dust settled from the impact, the ghostly arm was gone, and Aizen had closed the distance to catch Komomura's sword, having dragged Rukia with him. I swore to myself if I ever fought this guy, I'd put a contact activated poison on my blade. This habit of his, blocking barehanded to show off how powerful he was, represented a level of arrogance that deserved to blow up in his face.

"It's been quite a while since the last time I saw your face," said Aizen to Sajin. "What's brought about the change of heart, Sajin? Has something happened?"

Komomura's features twisted with hatred. Brows lowered like a human and teeth were bared like a wolf. "Aizen, how dare you stand there and smile like that? Aizen, you betrayed everybody, every one of us! You will not be forgiven! Nor will you, Kaname!"

Captain Komomura punched down, nowhere near Aizen, but a ghostly armored fist the same size as the last one appeared and was right on target for Aizen. Aizen had to leap back, taking Rukia under his arm as he went. Landing next to Gin, he handed Rukia off to him and began to stroll back up to Komomura, who'd turned his attention to Tosen.

"Kaname, if you've got an explanation, I need to hear it now! That's it? Nothing? Too bad, Kaname. Bankai."

I felt Komomura's spiritual pressure swell. Then he looked down at Aizen as though he hadn't noticed him walk up. Sajin glanced between Aizen and an empty spot near Tosen while Aizen raised a hand.

"Hado number 90," said Aizen as a ball of purple outlined blackness formed above his hand. "Kuno hitsuigi." The edges of a rectangular prism made of the same black-purple energy surrounded Komomura, then black walls and ceiling enclosed him. The construct of dark energy dwarfed the execution stand, and had a number of blade-like protrusions extending out of its top and sides. Those protrusions pressed inward, then the entire construct evaporated.

The construct had obviously pierced Komomura in numerous places. Blood spurted out from a dozen wounds and what remained of his armor shattered. Aizen turned his back, confident his spell had defeated his opponent. Komomura collapsed.

"Kyoka Suigetsu's complete hypnosis is flawless," bragged Aizen, "but even if there were a flaw, it would be impossible to escape it."

"So," said Gin, "that's unspoken hado 90. Pretty scary stuff. I take it you mastered that little attack when I wasn't looking."

"No, it was a failure," said Aizen. "What you saw was only about a third of its true destructive potential. Number 90's difficult to control. Now, then- Oh, sorry, I hadn't finished explaining things to you, had I?"

Aizen took Rukia by the collar again and dragged her to an open space as he picked up his interminable gloating speech where he'd left off. The brief confrontation had given me a few pieces of information. First, Aizen was able to cast illusions, selectively manipulating the senses of chosen individuals while leaving others unaffected. He'd used it to sneak up on Komomura. Second, Aizen wasn't invincible. Though he'd won his fight with Sajin handily, he'd felt the need to dodge his second attack, and didn't want to deal with his bankai. Third, for all his talk about mastering the four forms of soul reaper combat, he wasn't yet at that point himself, having been able to cast only a weakened version of the spell he attacked Komomura with.

Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Ganju, and the soul reaper Yachiru had nicknamed Whiskers arrived on the scene. Gin exerted his spiritual pressure and forced them all to the ground. Oddly, Uryu, who'd beaten a captain on his own, went down faster than Chad and Ganju, who'd both lost to their captain class opponents. Fortunately, holding them down with his spiritual pressure was all Gin intended to do for the moment. Aizen now had a larger captive audience for his speech.

"Now, Rukia Kuchki, after I found you in the world of the living, do you know what the first thing I did was? I went in and eliminated the Central 46. I imagine you heard a somewhat different story from Isane. She probably told you, 'Soske Aizen faked his death and his his whereabouts. Afterwards he slaughtered Central 46.' But that's not how it happened at all. I killed them as soon as I discovered you, then used my Kyoka Suigetsu on the entire central underground assembly hall. To simplify matters, I made it look as if Central 46 was still alive, holding meetings. In order to do that, one of us remained in the underground assembly hall at all times. Since then, we have taken over the functions of Central 46 and we have been issuing all of their orders.

"To make sure of your arrest, I had those members of squad six take you in. To separate you from the humans, I ordered the return and destruction of your gigai. To evaporate your soul and take the hogyoku from inside you, I decided the simplest way would be to have you executed with the Sokyoku. The only time we weren't in the underground assembly hall was the few hours surrounding the two captains' meetings.

"After that, I pretended to die and hid underground. Because I knew your Ryoka friends might save you, I knew the execution might fail.

"When a foreign object has been planted directly into a soul, there are only two methods by which to remove it. You can use an intense thermal disruption like the Sokyoku, which evaporates the soul around the object. Or, some other method which breaks down the soul's cohesion and allows them to be separated. In the unlikely event the execution by Sokyoku failed, I needed to find that other method."

Aizen took a small, thin metal tube from inside his shirt. "Which takes us back to Central 46. You see, the information I needed could only be found in the underground assembly hall's daireishokairo. I spent endless hours pouring over Kiske Urahara's research. He was the one who developed the technique of implanting a foreign object into a soul."

Aizen pushed a button on the cylinder, and it released an unknown gas. "So, I reasoned that hte answer to the question of how to remove one was also hidden in his research. Yes. This is that answer."

Green spikes rose up around Aizen in a ring from beneath the ground. His right hand turned green. Purple energy arcs leapt between the spikes and white arcs surrounded Aizen's right hand. In one motion, he put htat hand through Rukia's chest and out her back. Hee removed a small, round object from the hole in her chest and dropped her. The spikes withdrew back into the ground and Aizen's hand returned to normal.

Rukia fell to her knees, but didn't drop dead like a human with a hole like that in the chest. I was reminded of the holes hollows had in their chests without experiencing negative effects. If wounds like that were potentially survivable, I'd been fighting too cautiously since becoming a soul reaper.

"How fascenating," said Aizen. "I didn't expect it to be so small. The hogoku." The hole in Rukia's chest closed, and even her clothing was undamaged. "And no permanent harm to the soul. What an astounding technique. It's too bad, but I just don't have a use for you anymore. Kill her, Gin."

"Well, if I must," said Gin drawing his zanpakto. "Shoot to kill, Shinso."

Like during hte attack on Jidanbo, the extension of Gin's blade was too fast for me to see. Unlike that time, someone who could both see it and was fast enough to do something about it arrived just in time. Byakuya Kuchki took Rukia from Aizen, got her out of hte way of Gin's shikai, and nearly got herself out of the way. Shinso ended up piercing Byakuya's left lung. Aizen turned to finish off the Kuchkis himself, when the real rescue party finally arrived.

Jidanbo had taken a flying leap with my homunculus self and Kukaku Shiba on his back in order to make a dynamic entrance. As we fell, Kukaku intoned a kido chant, building power for the spell and unleashing a massive electrical blast just before we landed, throwing up a vision obscuring dust cloud. The Mad Eye allowed homunculus self to see through the dust and act accordingly.

Two women used the soul reaper high speed movement technique my homunculus self knew was called flash step to get close to Aizen. The one with dark skin, yellow eyes, and a long purple pony tail wrapped Aizen's sword hand with a strip of cloth while the other woman that my soul reaper self knew was Captain Soi Fon put her zanpakto to Aizen's throat. Aizen successfully captured, homunculus me rushed at Tosen, who was still standing over soul reaper me.

As a soulless homunculus, that version of me had no spirit energy to sense, and as a result, I was able to take Tosen completely by surprise, gripping him by the throat with my left hand and raising him off his feet. My preparations hadn't been useless. My red stone powered strength let me not only hold a soul reaper captain with one hand, but I had to avoid putting too much pressure as I choked him out to avoid shattering his spine.

With the spiritual pressure let up, my soul reaper self could move again. Knowing the dangers of attempting spells with broken wands, I dropped the hilt of Tsumi no Rensa. Extending my right hand in the obscuring dust cloud, I cast a nonverbal, wandless spell. If it weren't for the extended period I'd just spent crushed by spiritual pressure and bleeding out from my wounds while Aizen made his speech, my spirit energy might not have grown enough for my spell to succeed. I thought as loudly and forcefully as I could, "Acio hogyoku!"

If Aizen had still been holding the orb, the power of my spell wouldn't have been nearly sufficient to wrest it from his grip, but the traitor captain had put it in his pocket when he needed the hand that had been holding it to draw his sword against Rukia. I didn't dare risk Aizen seeing me with the orb when the dust settled, so I hastily shoved the prize he'd orchestrated all this over into my bag.

As Tosen struggled nad tried to pry the fingers of my homunculus self off his throat, the woman who'd bound Aizen's sword said, "Don't o it. If you even move so much as a muscle..."

"...then we're going to cut off your head," finished Soi Fon.

"Yes, I can see that," said Aizen far too calmly.

"Kukaku," greeded the yellow eyed woman binding Aizen's sword.

"Hey, Yoruichi," replied Kukaku Shiba, confirming this was the talking cat in human form. Apparently, his voice was only masculine in cat form. "I had a little free time on my hands, so since I was out, I thought I'd check in."

"What happened to you?" asked my homunculus self.

"What's it look like? I got cut up by soul reapers," said my soul reaper self. "What about you? How did you lose an arm? I'm the one who's been fighing."

"Cut it off myself so I'dhave a test subject for Kukaku's new automail. What do you think?"

At that point, more soul reapers started arriving. A busty, orange haired leutenant put a sword to Gin's throat. Yamamoto, Kyoraku, Ukitake, and a number of additional leutenants flash stepped onto the scene.

"This is the end," said Yoruichi.

"What? Did you say something?" asked Aizen as though completely unconcerned about this added opposition.

"Don't you understand, Aizen?" said Yoruichi just as confident as he was. "There is no place left for you, no place you can escape to. It's over, Aizen."

With a superior smirk and a condescending chuckle, Aizen said, "I'm sorry to do this, but the time is come."

Recognizing a danger no one else saw, Yoruichi called out, "Soi Fon, get away from him!"

Both women leapt asside as a column of golden light descended from the sky, forming a square base around Aizen. They'd gotten out of the way just in time. The point in the sky where the light had descended from cracked open, revealing a dozen or more menos grande. As the cracks widened, two more beams of light lanced down. I dropped Tosen and leapt back, and the soul reaper holding Gin did likewise. Inside the force field, Tosen dropped to his knees and clutched his throat, despirately gasping for air. As he managed to get back to his feet, the ground beneath all three traitor captains broke loose and began rising into the air.

Captai Komomura's leutenant drew his zanpakto, saying, "You're going to just run away? That's it?"

"Stop," ordered the elderly Head Captain Yamamoto. Everyone on the ground obeyed. "That light is a weapon with the name of negaccion. It's a technique the menos use when they are rescuing their fellow hollows. Once enveloped by that light, it is impossible for those within and without to interact. It is an isolated world inside the beam. All those who have fought the menos know it well. From the moment that light fell on Soske Aizen, it became completely impossible for us to reach him."

Captain Komomura, who'd regained consiousness at some point, punched the ground, splintering rock and yelled, "Kaname! Come back, Kaname! Have you forgotten? You once told me why you became a soul reaper! Wasn't it for your friend who lost their life? Wasn't it to carry out your justice? Where is your sense of justice now, because I don't see it?"

"I thought I made it clear to you," said Tosen, still rubbing his neck. "My eyes can only see one path, and that is the path with the least ammount of blood. Justice is always there, and the path I follow is justice."

Ukitake faced Aizen and said, "You'vejoined with the menos. Why would you want to do that?"

"I need to keep reaching higher," explained Aizen.

"Have you become that corrupt? Have you?" demanded Ukitake.

"You're blinded by your selfrighteousness," said Aizen, launching into another damnable speech as he rose into the sky. "From the beginning, no one has ever stood at the top. Neither you, nor me, nor the gods." Aizen removed and crushed his glasses and slicked back his messy hair. "But soon, that unattainable vacancy at hte top will be filled. From now on, I alone will stand at the top. Goodbye, soul reapers." Then he addressed Ichigo directly, "And goodbye, Ryoka boy. Even I have to admit that for a human, you were quite ammusing."

The rip in the sky closed, taking the three traitors with it.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Aizen didn't get the hogyoku. Of course, the fact that he already had one means this particular change won't actually impede his plans, especially since he did get Kiske's research notes on how he made his own hogyoku to fill in the blanks.


	11. Chapter 11: The Promised Miracle

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 11) The Promised Miracle  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

As this entire execution had been orchestrated by Aizen, Yamamoto declared the order void and Rukia free to go. For our part in helping avert this tragedy, we Ryoka were pardoned for our crimes. Orihime used her healing shield on Ichigo first, as he'd suffered the most serious injuries. I stopped my blood loss with a wandless spell and waited my turn under Orihime's shield. I gathered up the halves of my zanpakto. The soul reapers promised it could be repaired and that they would show me how.

Healers from the fourt division arrived, tending to Byakuya, Renji, and Komumora. When they offered to heal me as well, I gratefully accepted. As everyone was being healed, Byakuya called Rukia to his side and offered explanations.

Byakuya's wife Hisana had been Rukia's sister. When they'd died, Rukia had been a baby. Unable to care for an infant in the impoverished part of the Rukon District where they'd arrived, Hisana had abandoned Rukia. After marrying into the noble Kuchki clan, Hisana had tried to find Rukia to try and make up for it. She'd taken ill and died before succeeding. On her deathbed, she made Byakuya swear to continue the search.

After finding Rukia and adopting her into the clan against all rules and social conventions, Byakuya swore on his parents' grave that that would be the last time he broke the rules. He'd foolishly adhered to that oath when Rukia's sentence had been handed down. From the bottom of his heart, he thanked Ichigo for doing what he should have done himself, defying everyone for Rukia's sake. Then he turned to Rukia and said he was sorry.

When she'd finished healing Ichigo, Orihime approached my homunculus self. "Um, Greed. If you'd like, I could try and heal your arm for you."

I smiled and said, "That's alright. It'll heal on its own once we're back in the world of the living."

"Take her up on the offer," said Yoruichi. "It'll take about seven days to prepare a senkaimon to take you home. There's no point staying injured for a week if you can avoid it."

"Okay," I said, lying down. "Thanks."

Orihime summoned the two rika responsible for using her healing powers, and they formed an orange, oval shaped shield across my body. Orihime focused intently, and my right arm gradually regenerated. Her powers were nothing like the healing spells I knew, or those practiced by the soul reapers. They were undeniably effective.

When her shield disappeared and the rika returned to being petals on her hair clips. I sat up and flexed the fingers of my right hand. Then, something caught my eye. A red glow emanated from beneath the flap of my shoulder bag. I looked through the material with the Mad Eye and gasped in disbelief. Needing to confirm what I was seeing, I opened the bag and gently lifted out an egg shaped red crystal wrapped in a golden network of intricate wire work with a flat bottom and a gold flamel on the top.

"Her healing shield," breathed my soul reaper self in awe. "She healed the Grief Seed."

Tears streamed down the faces of both mes as we pulled Orihime into a group hug. "Thank you. Thank you so much," said my homunculus self between sobs of relief and joy.

"Um, you're welcome," said Orihime, confused.

There were still details to work out. I had to fact check Aizen's story, decide what to do with the hogyoku, repair my zanpakto, and learn what I could about my new soul reaper powers in the week I had left in the soul society. All of that meant very little in the face of the miracle that had just happened. All was right with the world.

* * *

The sun had set in the Soul Society. Captain Unohana, the black haired woman with the peculiar braid around her neck, offered us lodging in the fourth division barracks. It would let us be close to Rukia, Renji, and the other soul reapers there for medical treatment for injuries they'd sustained for helping us. By the time we'd relocated to the room prepared for us, both of me had regained our composure.

"So, what is that thing?" asked Uryu as he sat down on a bed.

Cradling the glowing red Soul Gem like the fragile, priceless treasure it was, homunculus me said, "My wife's soul."

"I've told most of you I'm an explorer who travels between worlds," said soul reaper me, looking over Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, and Yoruichi. The Shibas had returned home and the soul reapers were in other rooms. "In the last world we visited, she was approached by a dangerous, demonic being named Kyubey. He tricked her into a deal, and removed her soul, turning it into this. In this state, her soul is incredibly vulnerable to a process like hollowfication. I initially came here looking for help finding a way to reverse the process."

"Her Soul Gem works kind of like a mod soul," explained my homunculus self. "When we get back to the world of the living, we can make a body for her. Do you think the soul reapers have something like a gigai she can use that's set up to work in this world?"

"You mean like a reigai?" said Yoruichi. "They're used to test soul candies. You should be able to get one from the twelfth division in the morning."

"I'll stand guard tonight," said homunculus me. "I don't need to sleep."

"Do you really think we need a guard?" asked Ichigo.

"Whether we need one or not, I'm not taking my eyes off this Soul Gem until she's back in a body."

* * *

First thing in the morning, Yoruichi led us to the twelfth division baracks. Uryu and Orihime were visibly uncomfortable. Outside the compound, we stopped.

"What's wrong?" asked soul reaper me.

"Do you remember how I told you I fought a captain in bankai?" asked Uryu. "It was the twelfth division captain."

"But that was because they thought we were their enemy," said Ichigo.

"No, there's more to it than that," said Uryu. "He wanted to make Orihime a test subject because he hadn't seen her powers before, and he turned his own men into bombs to capture her."

"Head Captain Yamamoto forbid any member of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads from harming any of you while you're in the Soul Society," said Yoruichi. "Captain Korutsuchi may want to dissect you, but he knows better than to go against the head captain's orders."

"If he is dumb enough to try anything, there are four of us up to the job of beating down a soul reaper captain," added my homunculus self.

Orihime nodded and Uryu fell into line as we walked into the compound. The Twelfth Division compound, home of the Soul Reaper Department of Research and Development, was a massive building filled with lab coat clad soul reapers. This place was filled with laboratory equipment, some of which I recognized, and most of which I didn't. There were computer terminals hooked up to tanks of unknown liquid, hollows strapped to tables being vivisected, samples, both living and nonliving, being transported between labs through the halls, and security cameras everywhere.

The diversity of the soul reapers in this division was far greater than I'd seen in the Seireitei so far. I didn't recognize the species of the various nonhuman soul reapers. Most were humanoid, two arms, two legs, one head, but even that was more of a guideline. The soul reaper who spoke to us about the reigai had green skin, no nose, no hair, and a mechanical crank attached to the side of his head. Yoruichi told him to put the payment on Urahara's tab.

Like the gigai I'd purchased from Urahara, this reigai was a bald, featureless, muscular humanoid. It was laid out on a table. I knew the Soul Gem could animate a corpse, and the entire point of these artificial bodies was to emulate just that. I had to hope the two technologies were compatible.

I placed the Soul Gem on the reigai, and the reigai reacted. The featureless blank body glowed green and changed. It shrunk down, grew hair, and in no time had taken the form of a four year old girl with long brown hair and big blue eyes. I draped a cloak over her body to give her some modesty as she stirred.

Sloth looked around the room, then between the two mes. Blinking, she asked, "Greed?"

"Yes," said both of me at once.

"What happened?" Sloth asked.

"You turned into a witch," said homunculus me. "I took your Grief Seed to another world where I found someone who could turn it back into a Soul Gem."

"You didn't hurt anyone," said soul reaper me. "I made sure to stop you before you could."

"I remember," said Sloth. "I saw everything. I just couldn't stop it. I-I ate you."

Tears ran down from her eyes and homunculus me wrapped his arms around her, saying, "You know I'm tougher than that."

"And don't you dare go beating yourself up over it," said soul reaper me. "You weren't yourself and there was no harm done."

The humans were staring. Chad spoke the question that was on all of their minds. "This is your wife?"

"This is Sloth," introduced soul reaper me. "Sloth, this is Chad, Ichigo, Uryu, Yoruichi, and Orihime. She's the one who restored your Soul Gem."

"Thank you," said Sloth sincerely to Orihime.

"You're welcome," said Orihime. "I didn't really realize what I was doing at the time, but once he saw your Soul Gem, Greed was so happy. I'm glad I was able to help."

Unable to contain himself any longer, Ichigo burst out, "She's a little kid!"

Yoruichi swatted Ichigo across the back of the head, saying, "You should know better than to judge someone by their appearance. Were you like this with Lieutenant Yachiru or Captain Hitsugaya?"

"If it makes you feel better, my appearance is purely cosmetic," said Sloth. "I'm older than I look."

"There's so much I want to show you and tell you about," said soul reaper me.

"That sounds good," said Sloth. "Can... one of you... transmute me some clothes?"

"Um, about that," said homunculus me. "This is one of those worlds where alchemy doesn't work."

"We've got a portal opening in a week back to a world where alchemy works normally," said soul reaper me. "In the meantime, I can transfigure you some clothes."

"You figured out how to become a wizard?" asked Sloth. "How long have I been out?"

"Almost a month," said homunculus me. "Not counting time turning I was doing."

I wandlessly transfigured the cape draped over her into a plan dress. It was far from my best work, but it'd do the job until we were back in the world of matter where I could transmute something better. Uryu took exception.

"I realize you're new at using your powers, but that's no reason she should suffer," said Uryu. "When we get back to the fourth division, I'll borrow some of their sewing supplies and make something better."

"Thanks, Uryu," said soul reaper me. "It's worth it watching him work. He's really good with a sewing needle."

* * *

Homunculus me took Sloth out of the Seireitei to introduce her to Ganju and Kukaku Shiba and to pick up Loki. While we walked, I filled her in on the details of what had happened while she was out of commission, including the rescue mission to save Rukia. That version of me didn't have the details of Aizen's plot, nor did he know the other me had the hogyoku.

"So, this is the afterlife," said Sloth as we approached the Shiba house.

"One of the local ones," I said. "There's also a hell. I haven't been there."

"This obviously isn't the same place as the people we brought back with the Resurrection Stone told us about, and it's nothing like what Ed and Al saw either."

"I know," I said. "I think I like this sort of afterlife better. The Soul Society isn't a place of perfect bliss or cosmic togetherness or anything, but it is a place where the good parts about being alive, learning, growing as a person, making friends, don't just stop."

"Even wandering around the afterlife, I'm still dependent on my Soul Gem. I really will just cease to exist if it breaks, won't I?"

I nodded. "The people here have a lot of knowledge about souls. It may be possible to use their technology to construct a new soul and transfer your consciousness into it."

Kukaku insisted the two of us stay for lunch. Sloth congratulated me on Kukaku's automail when she showed it off. Loki was overjoyed to see Sloth again. Once we'd eaten and the three of us headed back toward the Seireitei, Sloth turned to me with tears welling up in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, Greed."

"About what?" I asked, getting to my knees and wiping the tears now running down her cheeks away.

"I tried to kill myself," said Sloth. "Just before I turned into a witch, I tried to smash my Soul Gem. I didn't trust you to find a way to fix this, and I did it right in front of you."

"I'm glad I was there to stop it," I said. "And I don't blame you for thinking it was your only option."

"We talked about it," said Sloth. "We had a plan. I didn't even stick to the plan long enough to see if there was a problem. I just gave up as soon as I brought back everyone I killed."

"You weren't yourself."

"Yes, I was. This wasn't like what happened after I turned into a witch."

"No, you aren't that weak," I said. "Sloth, I know you. I've seen how you act when you're up against a wall. You push back, keep fighting, and you don't give up."

"I did, Greed. I felt so hopeless. I couldn't see any way out. I couldn't keep fighting."

"That's right. You couldn't," I said, taking her hand in mine and raising the hand wearing her Soul Gem ring to eye level. "Kyubey even told us what was happening. Sloth, your magic is fueled by your emotions. When your Soul Gem gets dark, it's litterally clouded with grief and despair. When Kyubey said you were leaving yourself vulnerable walking around with your Soul Gem so dark, he wasn't talking physical danger."

"You think the corruption in my Soul Gem was influencing my emotions?" she asked.

"Do you still feel suicidal?"

"No."

"Has anything about your situation really changed?"

"I'm still a magical girl and still don't have any way to get back at Kyubey," she admitted. "I also still have a wonderful, brilliant husband who's doing more than I ever thought possible for me."

Sloth kissed me. The unexpected miracle of having her back and more emotionally healthy than I could have hoped for made this the first kiss since her recovery. Unfortunately, a surge of guilt and shame made me break the kiss. Sloth looked confused and hurt, and I felt even worse.

"It's not that I don't want to... oh, this is hard," I fumbled. "It's just... there are two of me now."

Sloth blinked. "You say that like it's a bad thing. That's never been a problem before."

I sighed. "It might not be a problem this time either, but I don't know yet."

"Greed, what are you talking about?"

"Those other times, it was always the same me, just in either my subjective past or future. Whatever happened, whatever we did, I didn't have to worry about being jealous of the other me, since in the end, all those memories and experiences would be integrated. Now, though, the other me split off and we've been diverging ever since."

"What does this mean for us?" asked Sloth.

"I still love you, and I'm sure the other me does too. This might be nothing and we'll be able to reintegrate once we're back in the world of the living."

"And if you can't?"

"Then we'll work something out," I promised. "I know it's not fair to ask you this, especially when you've just come back, but can we please just wait until we know for sure?"

"Okay, Greed. We can wait. You're worth it. I love you."

* * *

Author's comments:  
Sloth is still a magical girl, and still subject to the rules that govern them, but Orihime's power to reject negative events means safety from the worst aspects of that existence. It's time for the crushing despair built up in the last world to finally turn around.


	12. Chapter 12: Rearming and Training

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 12) Rearming and Training  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

The mental training I'd had with Snape was the only thing that let my soul reaper self focus while homunculus me was out with Sloth. It was the only sensible thing to do, with how much work there was that could only be done by my soul reaper self. I wasn't happy about not being the one with her, but logically, I knew this was the right choice. He could protect her from the unknown dangers of the Soul Society better than I could, and he didn't have a whole new power set to learn, and could give her the undivided attention she needed.

My first step was to take Kaien Shiba's text books that homunculus me had left me and absorb the knowledge within using the red stones in my bag. The books shed a lot of light on the soul reaper combat forms Aizen had talked about, as well as a lot about powers that tied into, but weren't strictly a part of, any of the four skills like sensing spirit energy.

With the notes and textbooks absorbed, I headed over to the Soul Reaper Academy and found one of the zanjutsu instructors. She guided me through the process of channeling my spirit energy into my zanpakto to repair the blade. After all the life and death situations I'd been through, Tsumi no Rensa no longer fit in its sheath, having a full additional foot of blade above the standard sized katana I'd started with. With the instructor's help, I was able to control and concentrate my spirit energy to consciously manipulate the size of my sword.

Now that my zanpakto was healed and back to a size that would fit in my sheath, I found a quiet room set up for the purpose, sat cross legged on a cushion, laid my zanpakto across my lap, and meditated. I wasn't sure how long it took, but eventually, I found myself back in that library that represented my inner world.

Tsumi no Rensa was taking a book down from an upper shelf when he turned to me. The zanpakto spirit was exactly as he had the last time I'd been drawn into this world. I recognized the stack of books near him as the ones I'd absorbed the contents of this morning.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "The repair looked like it worked okay from the outside, but I thought I'd better check."

"My blade is an unblemished whole again," said the sword. "My pride, however, is another matter."

"Your pride?" I asked.

"You were jealous of the captains' swords. You didn't even call out for my power when you faced the traitor captains."

"You mean shikai? I didn't see how having a length of chain would be more useful in that situation than having a sword."

Suddenly, I was holding the sealed form of Tsumi no Rensa, and the spirit was holding the length of chain that was its shikai state. I quickly gripped the hilt and adopted a defensive stance. I had a strong suspicion where this was going. He rushed forward, bringing the chain down at my skull. I blocked with the sword in my hand, and the chain wrapped around the blade. Possessing better leverage, Tsumi no Rensa yanked the sword out of my hands.

I hopped backward and tensed in anticipation of a followup attack. Rather than rush forward, however, the sword spirit disentangled the two weapons and tossed the sword back to me.

"Now you attack," said the spirit, gripping one end of the chain in each hand.

I rushed forward, feinting an overhead chop, then shifting into a sideways slash at the last second. The spirit brought the chain down to block, wrapped the blade once, then planted a kick hard in my stomach, costing me my grip on the hilt and hurling me back into a bookshelf.

Again tossing me back the sword, Tsumi no Rensa said, "You have trained with a sword to fight against a sword. The soul reapers have done the same, but for much longer than you. What you know about fighting against a sword does not apply to fighting against a chain. The change could help even the odds even without calling on my special abilities."

"Special abilities?" I asked.

The spirit nodded. "My name translates to 'Chain of Sin', and each link is one of the sins that weighs on your heart. One link for every life you have taken."

"That would be a much longer chain," I said sadly.

"It is," said the spirit, and the chain poured out of his hand. "You are not strong enough to lift the full chain, let alone wield it in battle. While wielding my shikai form, you may add or remove links at will."

"That's good to know," I said, watching the chain continue to fall to the ground.

"One more thing before you go," said the spirit. "When you do call forth my shikai form, use the release command, 'Bind.'"

I woke from my meditation to hear my stomach growling. As I went to find a place to have lunch, I recalled that during my time held prisoner, I hadn't gotten hungry, and my jailers hadn't brought food. The manacles that had sealed my spirit energy had also prevented it from draining away and needing to be replenished by eating. I was sure I'd find some way to make use of that.

After lunch, I found an open air training ground that nobody was using and released my zanpakto with the command, "Bind, Tsumi no Rensa!" The rest of the afternoon, I spent exploring what I could do with my zanpakto's special ability.

I learned a good deal through trial and error. I could add or remove links from any point on the chain, not just the end. When removing links from the middle, I could do so in a way that caused the chain to contract or to unlink and separate into separate lengths. I learned that I could add or remove links from a length of chain I wasn't holding so long as I was in contact with at least one link.

As a test, I wrapped a length of chain around a log, adding a link to connect the two ends into a loop. Then, standing back,, I removed links one by one and watched the log be cut in two by the shrinking chain. I smiled as I resealed Tsumi no Rensa into its sword form and resheathed it. I'd barely scratched the surface of what I could do with my zanpakto's special ability. I wasn't jealous of anyone else's sword anymore.

* * *

The two mes met back up and joined the others for dinner. At Sloth's request, Orihime tried to reject the corruption of each of the Grief Seeds in our possession. When none of them could be turned back into Soul Gems, Sloth and I concluded these Grief Seeds must have been from familiars that developed into witches instead of any of them having once been the Soul Gems of a magical girl. We did manage to verify that Orihime's healing power could empty partly filled Grief Seeds of their corruption as well as clean Sloth's Soul Gem directly.

The plan for the next day was to introduce Sloth to Rukia, Renji, and the other soul reapers who'd been injured helping us. None of them were in serious enough of condition to require the use of Sloth's healing powers. They just all happened to be gathered in the fourth division barracks where we could easily find them.

After the meet and greet was done, Sloth and homunculus me went to a library, preparing a selection of books about soul reaper science and technology that soul reaper me would be able to quickly assimilate using red stones. The chosen texts covered everything from artificial soul production to the physical properties of the dangai precipice world, to advanced kido spells I didn't have the spirit energy to cast now, but might one day develop.

While they prepared the books for quick and easy assimilation, soul reaper me asked Yoruichi, the acknowledged master of flash step, to teach me to use the technique. As it turned out, there was more to the technique than just high speed movement. Soul reapers were able to condense spirit energy in the air to make handholds and footholds. I had done so unconsciously when I leapt to save Chad from the exploding cannon ball.

Yoruichi showed me how to manipulate those footholds in order to accomplish extreme acceleration when I pushed off. Those same footholds could be used to stand in midair or to brace myself no matter what was around me. Yoruichi was very good at this indeed. I could perform a basic flash step by the end of the day, and she'd explained the principle behind some of the more advanced techniques my current level of flash step was too slow to pull off.

The training took place in an underground facility similar to the one under Urahara's shop. Yoruichi explained that this was where Ichigo's bankai training took place, noting I wasn't anywhere near ready for that when my eyes perked up. This place was apparently made by Yoruichi and Kiske when they were kids in the Soul Society together. It was secure and private.

"So, is there a reason you haven't told anyone you got the hogyoku away from Aizen yet?" asked Yoruichi casually.

My sudden surge of panic caused me to miss a step and slam face first into a wall at high speed. Yoruichi laughed.

"Actual combat will be a lot more distracting," said Yoruichi. "You need to be able to keep your focus no matter what happens when using flash step."

"How did you know I had the hogoku?" I asked, taking note of the bruises, cuts, and scrapes I'd accumulated and contrasting them with the cracked impression I'd left in the stone wall.

"I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who was in a position to see it fly out of Aizen's pocket in your direction. The shield Kiske put on it concealed its spiritual pressure, so I doubt anyone else noticed it in that dust cloud. You can bet Aizen's figured it out by now, though, even if he was too distracted by me and Soi Fon to notice in the moment."

"What do you know about the hogyoku?" I asked, pulling a secrecy sensor out of my bag. "Aizen spent a lot of time talking, but I haven't had much chance to confirm any of what he said."

"I don't know all the details," admitted Yoruichi. "Kiske created it as part of his research into hollowfication. IF you know how, it can be used to manipulate the boundary between hollows and soul reapers. The idea was to give soul reapers hollow like abilities, but the process turned out to be too difficult and too dangerous to be practical."

"Why was Urahara banished from the Soul Society?" I asked.

"There was an incident about a hundred years ago," said Yoruichi, taking a seat on a nearby rock. "People were disappearing in the Rukon District. A team was sent to investigate. When they didn't report in, backup was sent. It turned out, Aizen was conducting hollowfication experiments of his own. Most of the soul reapers sent to investigate were killed. At the time, Kiske was the captain of squad twelve and the head of the Department of Research and Development. He and Tessai, the captain of the Kido Corps, went to investigate on their own and found Aizen along with eight survivors of his experiments.

"The survivors were all captains and lieutenants, and they'd been forcibly transformed into hollow-like beings. Aizen fled and Kiske and Tessai brought the survivors back to Kiske's lab to try and stabilize them using the hogyoku. Aizen accused Kiske of being responsible for the experiments, and Central 46 exiled him."

"What happened to the survivors?" I asked.

"Central 46 ordered them to be killed as hollows. Kiske, Tessai, and I defied that order and smuggled them into the world of the living where they've been hiding ever since."

"Something doesn't add up," I said, looking at the still secrecy sensor in my hand. It had detected no deception, and yet, "Captain Korutsuchi implanted bombs in his own men. If experimenting on other soul reapers is-"

"The crime wasn't experimenting on other soul reapers," interrupted Yoruichi. "A soul reaper captain may legally do whatever he likes to members of his own squad. Kiske's lieutenant was among those Aizen targeted. Her victimization didn't factor into Central 46's ruling. It was for supposedly experimented on soul reapers who weren't his subordinates."

"Well, that's awful," I said. "I suppose that settles the question of whether to hand the hogyoku over to the Thirteen Court Guard Squads for safe keeping."

"So what's plan B?" asked Yoruichi.

"Aizen said there's no known way to destroy it. Is that true?"

Yoruichi nodded.

"Then I'll need to hide it away where Aizen can't ever find it," I said.

"Kiske just tried that," noted Yoruichi.

"I know a few kido spells that were never developed in this world," I said. "The place I studied had less emphasis on direct combat, but they had a lot more focus on stealth and concealment."

"Does the fact that the hogyoku belongs to Kiske enter into it for you?" asked Yoruichi.

"Nope," I said, shaking my head. "His goal was to hide the thing away forever, and I'm going to do just that. Now, the fact that he knows how to use it does enter into my thought process, as does the fact that it's apparently necessary to fix some condition Aizen knows how to inflict. I'll need to make sure Kiske can access it in an emergency."

"We'll have to go over the details with Kiske when we get back to the world of the living," said Yoruichi. "I think that sounds pretty reasonable to me, if you can pull it off. Oh, one more thing. There are forms of surveillance you don't know about. If I bring up the hogyoku, it means I've checked and I think we're secure. Don't say anything about it unless I bring it up."

* * *

At the library, Sloth and I continued to pile up books in anticipation of my soul reaper self's arrival. As we worked, the Mad Eye swiveled in its socket, tracking a soul reaper wearing a sleeveless uniform with a white hood and unkempt blue-black hair. His presence wouldn't be particularly remarkable except for the fact that he was invisible. He was always careful not to take books down unless there was a shelf between himself and any possible observers.

I didn't let on that I'd seen him, instead just quietly noting the books he looked at so I could check them over once he was gone and possibly get some clue what he was up to. Whatever it was, he was equally careful to avoid being seen by other soul reapers as he was to avoid Sloth and I. As such, I suspected this mystery had nothing to do with us. I was still going to check it out. Seven years at Hogwarts had taught me being nosy was a vital survival tactic.

The suspicious soul reaper slipped out the door that soul reaper me came in through. I went to collect the books he'd been looking at while Sloth and Loki rushed over to greet the other me.

"Greed! How'd your shunpo training go?" asked Sloth.

"I've got the basics," I said. "I'll need a lot of practice before I get good at it, but Yoruichi gave me everything I need ot know to keep practicing on my own. I see you both worked hard on my reading list today."

"You only brought so many red stones," said Sloth. "There's no good reason you should waste them on poetry books, novels, and things you already know."

I smiled, reached into my satchel to make contact with the red stones, and touched the first pile of books with my other hand. Using red stones this way causes the user to instantly and completely understand the documents he is absorbing. That understanding was very thorough, the equivalent of pouring over those documents for months. It revealed secret codes, imprinted comprehension of underlying concepts, and integrated the information into your knowledge base thoroughly enough that you were unlikely to forget even the smallest detail. It was, in my opinion, the single most valuable use a red stone could be put to.

The first set of books was about spirit energy. Red light poured off the books, and my eyes went blank for a moment as I absorbed the information. When the light faded, I exchanged the blank look for one of absolute horror. I managed to choke out, "the error bars," before retching and vomiting on the floor.

Both Sloth and homunculus me were there in an instant, supporting and worrying over my soul reaper self.

"What's wrong, Greed?" asked Sloth.

"Error bars?" asked homunculus me, confused.

Soul reaper me, trembling from the adrenaline in my system grabbed a book off the pile, flipped it open, and shoved it toward homunculus me before retching again and vomiting up still more onto the library floor. Sloth squeezed soul reaper me's hand and glanced worriedly between the two mes. Homunculus me starred at the page, slowly realizing what was implied by the chart I was looking at.

The book was describing the effects of spirit energy on the spiritual bodies that soul reapers have. Neat charts described the durability of each organ and tissue in the body at varying levels of spirit energy. It included precise force numbers for blunt force trauma, temperature tolerances, electrical resistances, and toxin resistance. The thing was, spirit energy flows in a living body. A severed limb or a cadaver would not be able to yield the data that underlied these charts. People had been vivisected to get this data. And as my soul reaper self had noted, the error bars indicated it must have been a lot of people to get numbers this precise.

"It's like when the Nazis were cutting me up if they'd taken better notes and actually bothered to analyze the data," said my homunculus self. It had taken that me longer to get there without red stone assistance, so the trauma of realizing what had happened was more gradual, blunting the psychological impact somewhat. That me still felt like puking, but managed to hold it down.

"Are you okay, Greed?" asked Sloth as soul reaper me regained his composure.

"I will be, just... oh, God, Mayuri needs to be stopped." Soul reaper me was still trembling as I wiped my mouth on the loose fitting sleeve of my uniform.

"That won't be easy," said my homunculus self. "With the red stones, I'm strong and fast enough to take out a captain, but that level of spirit energy comes with a boost to their reflexes. I was only able to get my fingers around Tosen's neck by exploiting the element of surprise.

"My reflexes scale with my magic output," noted Sloth, looking over the chart. "I' have to finish the fight quick, but I could manage it."

Soul reaper me shook his head. "You're not used to fighting at those power outputs. He is. And besides that, after we take him out, we'd need to deal with any of the other soul reapers who're backing him."

"You're the one who said he had to be stopped," said Sloth.

"I know," said soul reaper me, rubbing my temple. "It's just... we can't go after a guy like that half cocked. We should keep our heads down for now, get a better handle on our powers, and see about making sure that when the time comes, the other captains will back us instead of him."

"I have an idea of how to get a few of them on our side," said homunculus me. "We know Byakuya lost his wife some time ago. Ukitake's former lieutenant was Kukaku and Ganju's brother Kaien. He and his wife were possessed by a hollow. Rukia had to put Kaien down herself after the hollow attacked them."

Sloth nodded. "We have enough Grief Seeds to bring back dozens. More if Orihime works with us, emptying them after use."

"Meanwhile, I should get back to assimilating these books," said soul reaper me. Then I glanced down at the puddle of vomit on the floor. "After I clean that up."

My left hand rested on the hilt of my zanpakto as I called to mind the vanishing spell. It was NEWT level transfiguration. I'd need a wand for that.

"Then go make yourself a wand," came the voice of Tsumi no Rensa in my head. "I am not your cook, your maid, your tailor, or your cobbler. I am a sword. I will help you battle your enemies. I will help you get stronger. When you need a weapon, I will be there, but I am not some common tool."

"All right, I'll get a wand," I said to the sword, drawing stares from Sloth and my homunculus self. "My sword talks to me," I explained lamely.

"Why don't I go get a mop?" said homunculus me. "I saw some janitorial supplies in a closet earlier."

"Bring a spare bucket," called Sloth after him. "In case there's more stuff like that last batch in here."

After the last of the books had been assimilated, the floor cleaned, and the books had been returned to their shelves, the two mes, Loki, and Sloth headed out to get dinner. At the table while we ate, soul reaper me explained what the invisible soul reaper had been researching.

"He's researching an obsolete power generation technology called Jokai. The generators produced massive amounts of spirit energy for various uses, but they were dangerously unstable. They were all decommissioned a thousand years ago after an accident detonated one, destroying a tenth of the Seireitei in the process."

"Given the size of the Seireitei, that would put their destructive potential on par with the atomic bomb we dropped on Hiroshima," said homunculus me.

"Dangerous technology to be researching while sneaking around invisible," said Sloth. "If he's trying to make a Jokai bomb-"

"Then he's working with a larger conspiracy," said soul reaper me. "Jokai reactors require equipment and resources more or less on par with what we needed when we were making nuclear weapons without alchemy."

"He might be with Aizen," suggested homunculus me. "We have no idea what resources he has in Hueco Mundo."

Soul reaper me shook his head. "Aizen had plenty of time to research whatever he wanted before he left. These books aren't restricted or sensitive and he was a trusted and well liked captain."

"It might just be a training exercise," reasoned Sloth. "Get in and out of the library undetected with enough information to write a report. Choose something obscure like a complicated technology that hasn't been used in a thousand years to eliminate the possibility of having prior knowledge or finding out through some other means than the stealth mission."

"It makes sense," admitted homunculus me. "Especially if there isn't really anything he could do with it on his own."

* * *

The next day, my soul reaper self and Sloth stayed in the fourth division barracks. Hanataro, the soul reaper who'd joined Ichigo and Ganju in attempting to rescue Rukia had agreed to show me the soul reaper healing techniques. Homunculus me took Loki on an all day walk outside the Seireitei.

That walk took us out the west gate where I stopped off to check on Jidanbo and get directions to an old, large forest. I knew what I was looking for. An old tree which had weathered the elements far better than the trees around it. One who's branches grew straight and who's bark was smooth and regular. Bowtruckles would be ideal, but if they didn't exist in this world, I'd have to rely on the unnatural health and vigor to serve as an indicator of wand quality wood.

There were no bowtruckles, but I found several trees that ought to produce suitable wand wood. I harvested a few branches from each before heading back to the Seireitei. The differing rigidity of my samples would give me more options to find a good match for the core material. On my way back in, Jidanbo happily handed over a hair from his ponytail at my request. Giant hair would make for a usable core material, especially a giant who was also a soul reaper, with the spirit energy that implied.

Jidanbo's hair would make a suitable plan B if I couldn't get the core material I really wanted to work with. On returning to the Seireitei, I didn't immediately return to the others, instead detouring to the office of one of the captains.

"Come in," said a voice when I knocked.

"Captain Sajin Komumura," I greeted the wolf faced soul reaper captain. "I don't think we've been introduced. My name is Greed."

"And who is this?" he asked, looking down at my dog.

I smiled. "This is Loki. He and I have been together since my time in the military back home."

"You are adorable," said Captain Komumura, dropping to one knee to pet Loki, who's tail wagged in response. "I see. You two have been through a lot together."

"What do you mean?" I asked, blinking in confusion.

Captain Komumura looked up at me, saying, "That's right. You're one of the Ryoka, so you haven't heard much about me. I'm actually quite well known in the Seireitei for my rapport with animals, especially dogs."

"Well, you're right," I said. "Loki was there for me during some really dark times in my life and vice versa."

"A bond like that is a precious thing," said Komumura. "Too few people realize just how precious. But I'm rambling. You came to see me for a reason. What did you want?"

"There were two things I wanted to ask you about. I get the sense that you were close to former Captain Kaname Tosen. Is that right?"

Komumura sighed. "I thought I was, but nothing I said could get through to him."

"I was hoping you'd be willing to tell me what you know about the three of them."

"Why are you interested?" asked Komumura.

"They targeted my friend," I said. "I have no way of knowing if they might target someone I care about again. I think it's wise ot know your enemy."

Captain Komumura told me what he knew. Gin Ichimaru was a suspicious type who always seemed to have something to hide. No one in the Seireitei could ever get a good read on him. That, combined with his cruel sense of humor meant that of all three of them, his defection was the least surprising. His zanpakto was the fastest in the Soul Society, able to extend and retract in the blink of an eye as his sword's special ability. In bankai, that speed and its length of extension were ramped up to a level where he could cut a city in half with a horizontal swing and have it retracted again before you saw it extend.

Aizen was very much an unknown. He'd kept up a facade of a friendly, supportive mentor who cared deeply for those around him for over a century. He'd lied about his zanpakto all that time, claiming that it used mist to reflect light to confuse his enemies into fighting each other. The truth was his zanpakto was an illusion type. Anyone who had seen him release it, even once, could have their senses controlled by Aizen. That's how Aizen had snuck up on Komumura to deliver that kido attack. Aizen had shown his shikai release to everyone of note in the Soul Society by now.

Kaname Tosen was the man Sajin Komumura knew best. He'd considered them friends before this incident and was blaming himself for not having seen this coming and deterring Kaname from this path. Tosen had a strong sense of justice and an aversion to violence, which made his defection the most surprising. He had an intense, personal dislike for Kenpachi Zaraki, who adored fighting and bloodshed. When Kenpachi became a captain and killed the former captain of squad eleven, Tosen lamented the fact that the laws of the Soul Society would allow such a thing to take place.

Tosen had been blind since birth, but he made up for it with an exceptionally precise ability to sense spirit energy. His zanpakto had two shikai abilities. The first was the sonic attack that had knocked out Uryu. The second allowed him to create hundreds of sword blades and launch them at an opponent. Tosen's bankai robs his opponent of all their senses except touch. The one holding his zanpakto's hilt is immune to this effect, allowing Tosen to reverse his normal disadvantage.

A major event in Tosen's life from before he became a soul reaper was when a close friend of his was killed. He became a soul reaper to seek justice for that friend. Komumura was convinced that loss left Tosen hating the world that his friend had loved so much. Komumura had never met this friend, but had been to her grave with Tosen many times.

"Thank you for telling me all this," I said.

"I'm sorry I couldn't shed more light on their motives. Of all of them, I knew Kaname best, and I can't begin to understand why he would choose to ally with the menos."

"I can guess," I said. "Justice and the law are two different things. The law says Kenpachi Zaraki killing his predecessor is legitimate. The law says Mayuri Korutsuchi is free to conduct experiments on his squad members and turn them into living bombs without their consent. Justice makes no allowances for things like that. Justice says wrong is wrong, and must be punished."

"But them why ally with the menos?" asked Captain Komumura. "The hollows devour human souls. They don't know mercy or regret."

"I don't know what he saw in the hollows, except perhaps a means outside the law to pursue his idea of justice," I said. "If he wanted to fight the Soul Society's laws, he'd need allies powerful enough to stand up to the defenders of those laws. Not to sound ungrateful for when you showed up to try and stop Aizen, but until Isane's message came down saying Rukia's unjust execution was illegal, you were willing to fight to uphold that unjust execution."

Captain Sajin Komumura lowered his eyes contemplatively as he continued to gently stroke Loki's head. "The captain commander, Master Genryusai Yamamoto, always taught us that the true justice of the world was bigger than any one man's vision. Aizen slaughtering Central 46 and usurping it is an example of what happens when one man tries to place himself above the law."

"If you didn't even notice the change, could they have been acting that benevolently before?" I asked. "Though they had their reasons, they were the ones who ordered the Quincy genocide. With less justification, they ordered the creation then extermination of the mod souls. They ordered the victims of inhuman medical experiments executed without even exploring treatment options. It seems to me, if I can dig up that many examples in just the few weeks I've known the Soul Society existed, something deeper is wrong here than a few treasonous captains."

Rising to his full height, which was about as tall as Hagrid, Captain Sajin Komumura said, "You've given me a lot to think about. Maybe it will help me understand my old friend better. Thank you for that."

"I did have one additional request," I said. "Would it be possible for me to have one of your whiskers?" That earned me a raised eyebrow so I hastened to explain. "I have knowledge of how to construct a kind of kido amplifier, but it requires as a core some substance from a spiritually powerful nonhuman."

"Hm... I don't see the harm in it. You did help me talk through my feelings on Kaname. Let me see what I can find."

Captain Komumura left briefly, then returned with a brush covered in matted brown orange fur. I carefully dug through the brush until I found what I was looking for. A single, stiff whisker that had come through the captain's grooming rituals undamaged. I thanked him profusely, returned his brush, and returned to the squad four barracks.

* * *

I found Sloth and soul reaper me asleep when I arrived. They were in separate beds with a small table between them. It had my soul reaper self's zanpakto on it as well as a sneakoscope that ought to alert them of an intruder. I got Loki some food and put him to bed as well.

Beyond suck mortal frailties as hunger or fatigue, I decided to take advantage of the quiet nighttime hours to work in peace. I'd received a very good education in magical theory at Hogwarts. I'd assimilated numerous books on wandlore and received personal lessons in wandmaking from the expert Gerak Ollivander. After all that, I had passed through the Gate and was exposed to the infinite knowledge of the Truth within.

If my theory was correct, the legendary Elder Wand, sought by witches and wizards down the ages, said to be unmatched in its powers even hundreds of years hence and supposedly unbeatable in a duel, was forged with only a fraction of those advantages. The materials I had to work with were of unimaginably high quality. Both potential cores came from soul reapers, powerful beings who's function was to regulate the flow of souls between worlds. That one was from a captain, one of the most spiritually powerful soul reapers in existence was a bonus.

I employed a lot of arithmancy as I constructed chart after chart to determine the ideal configuration of wood, length, thickness, and flexibility for each of the two cores. As I was attempting to construct a wand for my own use, I included pertinent arithmantic details about myself in my calculations. Finally, as dawn broke in the Soul Society, I put my tooks away and sat down in a chair opposite my soul reaper self with the wand made from Komumura's whisker on my lap.

"It's ready," I said as my other self awoke.

"Nice," said soul reaper me, accepting the wand. "Now I can finally fix this outfit."

"What's wrong with it?" asked homunculus me.

"I hate these sandals and toe socks," said soul reaper me, directing the wand at his feet.

Transfiguration was the easiest form of magic to emulate using alchemy. Among wizards, it was notoriously difficult. All of my friends at Hogwarts were great witches and wizards, but not all of them had gone on to study transfiguration at the NEWT level. I knew the theory backward and forward, but since gaining spirit energy for myself, I'd employed it only twice. Once to multiply a meal, and once to fashion Sloth's crude dress. Neither had required as much precision as I was going for now.

The wand had been made well, and with my expanded spirit energy, I was able to put theory into practice. Now wearing a pair of black boots with thick soles and transmutation circles drawn on their soles, I felt much more comfortable. I quickly flash stepped down the corridor to verify my boots didn't hinder that ability, then retrieved some food for us before returning to our room.

At the scent of food, Sloth came fully awake. She looked between the two mes, smiled, and sat up, asking, "What's on the agenda today?"

"I'm going back to the library," answered soul reaper me. "The books I assimilated the other day were a good foundation. Now I have about four days left to assimilate the more advanced soul reaper science."

"I get the sense the really cutting edge stuff is locked away with squad twelve or in secure archives," said homunculus me.

"I'll have to make due with what's publicly available for now," said soul reaper me. "We don't want to make enemies by being somewhere we're not supposed to be. Not when we're relying on them to return us safely to the material world."

"So, do you need us to pre-screen the books for you again?" asked Sloth before shoveling a fork full of scrambled eggs into her mouth.

"No," said soul reaper me, sadly. "I'll work faster on my own. I know better where my gaps are. Besides, you two have another job."

"Is it time for me to start bringing people back?" asked Sloth.

The two mes nodded.

"Once we've got Hisana and Kaien, I think Captain Komumura has someone we'll want to try and bring back too," said homunculus me.

* * *

Author's comments:  
The discussion with Komumura about Tosen is one of the things I was looking forward to when I decided to write in the Bleach universe. The way the Soul Society's laws allow for horrific atrocities while preventing people like Tosen from seeing justice for his friend wasn't going to be unremarked upon given Greed's history with arbitrary and unjust laws.


	13. Chapter 13: One Reunion Becomes Many

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 13) One Reunion Becomes Many  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

In addition to being a soul reaper captain, Byakuya Kuchki was the head of a wealthy, noble family within the Seireitei. His position afforded him certain luxuries including a private room in the healers' barracks in which to recover from his injuries. Rukia, who's physical injuries were far less severe, was up and about, visiting Byakuya when Sloth and I arrived.

"Sloth, Greed, how are you?" greeted Rukia.

I stroked Loki's head to soothe hurt feelings about not being included in the greeting and said, "We're both fine. How are the two of you doing?"

"The healers say both my brother and I will make full recoveries, though it will be some time before my spirit energy fully recovers," said Rukia.

"That's good to hear," I said, sincerely.

"Captain Kuchki," said Sloth bowing to Byakuya, "I don't know how much you've been told about me, but I've heard a lot about you, and about your wife, Hisana."

Byakuya tensed, but forced himself to relax. "Hisana was very precious to me."

Sloth nodded. "I know what it's like to have someone that means so much to you. And I know how painful loosing them can be. That's why I wanted to talk to you first.

"I have powers that don't work on the same principles as spirit energy. One of those powers is the ability to raise the dead. The only limitation on this ability is that the dead want to come back. I asked for that limitation from the being who gave me my powers so I wouldn't potentially yank someone out of a pleasant afterlife."

"As I understand it, the souls that die in this world are reincarnated in the human world without their memories," I said. "If Hisana died fifty years ago, her soul is most likely still there. If the life she's leading is a happy one, Sloth won't be able to raise her. IF the life she's leading is not a happy one, Sloth can bring Hisana back."

"I don't need her remains or anything like that," said Sloth. "I just needed you to know what I was attempting beforehand so if she did come back you wouldn't dismiss her as some trick or illusion."

Sloth held out her hand, palm up, and the silver, rune inscribed ring on her middle finger transformed into the brilliant red, egg shaped gem wrapped in intricate gold wire work. She put a silver and black Grief Seed up to her Soul Gem and a few motes of corrupting darkness flowed from the Soul Gem to the Grief Seed. Sloth needed to be at full power to attempt this safely.

A brilliant crimson light shone from Sloth's Soul Gem for just an instant before the gem dimmed to its usual luster. Hisana was nowhere to be seen.

"I know you have no reason to believe that could have worked," said Sloth. "Just try to remember that her not coming back means that wherever she is, she's happy there."

"Let's try Kaien next," I said.

"Kaien Shiba?" asked Rukia.

Once again, the light from Sloth's Soul Gem flared brilliantly. Only this time, when the light faded, Sloth's Soul Gem had gone almost completely black and there was now a soul reaper in the room who greatly resembled Ichigo. His spikey hair was black instead of orange, and his forearms were tattooed with black spirals like the markings on Ganju's clothes. Kaien looked around in leery confusion.

Sloth quickly cleaned her Soul gem as the stunned Kuchki siblings stared at the resurrected lieutenant of squad thirteen.

"Rukia? Captain Kuchki? How did I get here?" asked Kaien.

"You were dead, Kaien. I killed you myself," said Rukia.

"I know. I was there," said Kaien. Then he smiled and added, "Thanks for that. When that hollow possessed me, he would have made me slaughter my who squad, yourself and Captain Ukitake included if you hadn't stepped in."

Byakuya made a skeptical noise and said, "The gap in power between a captain and a lieutenant is far greater than you realize."

"Begging your pardon, Captain Kuchki," said Kaien, "but at the time, Captain Ukitake was unable to move, much less lift his sword. Obviously, I'd be no match for him on a good day, but his illness had taken the fight out of him. Rukia did save Captain Ukitake's life."

"As to how you got here," said Sloth, "I have the power to heal the sick and raise the dead. At least the dead who aren't resting peacefully."

"Well, that explains that," said Kaien. "I definitely wasn't resting peacefully. It turned out the hollow that possessed me had one last trick. Instead of being purified by a zanpakto, it had t he ability to enter into a deathlike state and return to Hueco Mundo to regenerate. Not long after arriving, that hollow was devoured by another, stronger hollow. I was forced to watch helplessly everything those hollows did from the inside."

"That sounds awful," I said.

"I wouldn't want to go through that again," said Kaien, "but if it hadn't happened, I wouldn't be in a position to pass on vital information."

"You have something to report?" asked Byakuya.

Kaien took a knee and bowed to Byakuya, then said, "Captain Kuchki, there is a conspiracy of traitors within the thirteen court guard squads. Captain Soske Azen, Captain Gin Ichimaru, and Captain Kaname Tosen have been conspiring with the menos!"

"Kaien, we already knew that," said Rukia hesitantly.

"The traitors revealed themselves four days ago," said Byakuya. "Have you anything further to report?"

Kaien was shaken by the news but continued. "Soske Aizen is the ringleader. They are operating out of a fortified stronghold in Hueco Mundo called Las Noches. Aizen has spent years enhancing the powers of the hollows under his command using an artifact called the hogyuku."

"Years?" asked Rukia. "It was in the process of stealing the hogyoku four days ago that Aizen's status as a traitor was revealed."

"Could there have been more than one?" I asked.

"That is a possibility," said Byakuya. "Continue with your report, Lieutenant Shiba."

"Yes, sir," said Kaien. "The hollows he uses the hogyoku on develop soul reaper like traits. Their masks are broken and partly removed, and a kind of zanpakto is formed to contain their hollow powers. After undergoing the process, the hollow becomes immeasurably stronger and is now called an arancer. Arancar can release their zanpakto like soul reapers can, but in their case, it returns the arancar to a more hollow-like form. They call this technique a resureccion.

"Aizen has divided his army into two groups, numeros, arancars assigned two digit numbers based on the order of their creation, and espada, the ten most powerful arancars in his army assigned a one digit number reflecting the rank and strength of that arancar. The hollow I observed from within was one of these espada."

"I would like you to prepare a detailed report," said Byakuya. "Captain Ukitake and Head Captain Yamamoto will want to know every detail you were able to observe during your time inside this arancar."

"Of course, Captain Kuchki. I'll get on that right away," said Kaien.

"Before you start on that," said Sloth, "I'm going to bring back your wife next. You should be here for that."

Crimson light once again flared from Sloth's Soul Gem and a woman with long, black hair and a soul reaper uniform appeared. She looked around in the same bleary confusion Kaien had. Kaien was on his feet in an instant, wrapping her in a despirate embrace.

"Miyako! You're alive!"

"Kaien? But how?"

"This girl," said Kaien, indicating Sloth. "She brought us both back."

"Rukia," said Byakuya, "would you please escort your squad mates back to the squad thirteen barracks and explain what has happened to Captain Ukitake?"

Rukia stopped staring and snapped to attention. "Right away, brother. Let's go."

When Rukia had rushed the pair out, leaving Sloth, Loki, and I alone with Byakuya, he verified, "Hisana is at peace?"

"Yes," said Sloth.

"You possess a remarkable gift," said Byakuya.

"A gift implies her abilities came without a price," I said. "Sloth's paid a very high price indeed for this power. She's dependent on the crystal she focuses her power through to live, and if it's destroyed, her soul is too. This trip may well be the only time she gets to see the Soul Society or any other afterlife."

Sloth finished cleaning her Soul Gem and added, "Greed's looking for a way to reverse what was done to me, but we're so new at this we have no idea if it's even possible, much less how long it'll take."

"Regardless, I thank you for making your attempt on Hisana's behalf," said Byakuya.

* * *

Sloth and I found Orihime who used her healing shield to empty the Grief Seeds Sloth used resurrecting the Shibas. As she worked, we related what we'd learned from Kaien to her, Chad, Uryu, and Ichigo.

"Why would Aizen go to all this trouble to steal the hogyoku if he already had one?" asked Uryu.

"It's probably not because he wanted to keep it out of our hands," I said. "Kiske's plan was to hide it away forever."

"Maybe you get a stronger hybrid if you use two hogyokus instead of one," suggested Sloth.

"That bastard spent a lot of time talking about the hogyoku and saying explicitly that he didn't have one," said Ichigo. "He wanted to get away and leave us thinking the hogyoku he stole was the only one."

"But how would that help him?" asked Orihime.

"Without knowing his ultimate goals," said Uryu, "it's impossible to say how this deception figures into them."

"Are you going to keep using your powers?" asked Chad, changing the subject.

"I'd like to," said Sloth. "If Orihime's willing to keep charging the batteries."

"Oh, it's no trouble," said Orihime. "Once we get back to our world, you can have Greed bring your used up Grief Seeds into class with him and I'll restore them at lunch."

Sloth raised an eyebrow, looked at me, and said, "You're back in high school?"

"It's not for the curriculum. They aren't teaching anything new or interesting. I only went so I could stalk Ichigo and learn more about soul reapers."

"Whatever it was to begin with, it looks like you made some good friends," said Sloth. "Good. You need people more than you like admitting. You may be okay spending months isolated in your lab, but you wouldn't know what to do with yourself if you didn't have someone you could show what you figured out to at the end of that."

"So, um, have you figured out who you're going to bring back next?" asked Orihime.

"I wanted to wait on you guys' loved ones until we were back in the world of the living," said Sloth. "In the meantime, try not to get your hopes up. Not everyone comes back, and if they don't, it means they're happy wherever they are now."

* * *

Ganju and Kukaku came to see Kaien and Miyako. It took a few days for the Soul Society to really accept what had happened, but Kaien's siblings acknowledged it was them right away. Rukia took advantage of their visit to offer apologies for not coming to talk to them about Kaien's death sooner. She was quickly forgiven, and the necessity of her actions was acknowledged.

Uryu had finished new clothes for himself, Chad, Sloth, and Orihime so we wouldn't be returning to our world in borrowed soul reaper uniforms. Sloth's dress was a lot frillier than she was used to. Uryu had added a white lace trim to a knee length skirt. The dress had further lace trim on the short sleeves that stopped at the shoulders. A set of white tights was worn under the crimson dress with a waist defined by a shimmering golden sash.

"I love it. Thank you," said Sloth after getting a good look at herself.

"It was tricky coming up with a look from scratch," acknowledged Uryu. "I drew some inspiration in terms of color palette from your Soul Gem. As to the details, I find a little bit of lace is usually a winner in terms of accenting a design."

"I told you he was good," said my soul reaper self arriving on the scene. "I finished off the library. If they have the technology to reverse what was done to you, it's locked away in the Department of Research and Development."

"It was worth looking," said Sloth. "I presume you found plenty of other interesting things in there."

"I almost don't know where to start," admitted soul reaper me.

While we talked, Captain Komumura entered the room. "I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

"Of course not, Captain," said Sloth. "We've been expecting you."

"You have?" asked the wolf faced captain.

"We're leaving the Soul Society later today," said Sloth. "This is your last chance to find out if I can bring back Tosen's friend and see if she can shed any light on his leaving."

"Then you'll help me?" asked Komumura.

"Lead the way to her grave," said Sloth.

"We'll be back for the Senkaimon," said homunculus me on the left.

Both mes, Loki, and Sloth followed Captain Komumura out of the Seireitei, to a nameless grave site on the top of a grass covered hill. Sloth held out her hand and the silver ring on her middle finger glowed red then transformed into its egg like form. Crimson light poured from her Soul Gem, and a woman with shoulder length brown hair appeared on the grass wearing a soul reaper uniform.

"Do not be afraid," said Captain Komumura. "My name is Sajin. You were friends with Kaname Tosen, correct?"

"I? You know Kaname?" she said.

"For many years, I called myself his friend, but I fear he has lost his way. He spoke often of you and how much you loved this world. I had hoped that by hearing your story, I might find a way to return him to his proper path."

She and Kaname had been close since they were young, like Rukia and Renji had. She became a soul reaper in order to help make the world a better place, a dream she spoke about often with Kaname. She had married a soul reaper of higher rank in her squad. Her husband had killed a comrade over a petty disagreement. When she spoke out against this, he killed her too.

With names and details to go with this story, it was easy for Captain Komumura to look into the records and get the rest of the story. Tosen had demanded an audience with Central 46 over his friend's death, but it was treated as a matter of internal squad discipline, to be sorted out by the captain if he saw fit. Which, he didn't.

Everyone involved was long gone by the time Tosen graduated the academy and became a soul reaper himself, but the policies that enabled this in the first place were still in place. It was a definite injustice, and only one of thousands like it in the court records. If this was what was motivating Tosen, it was, at the very least, understandable.

"Did you know that Kaname was the editor for the Seireitei Communication newsletter?" asked Komumura as he led Loki, Sloth, and the mes up to Sokyoku Hill. "He published a weekly column called, "What Is Justice?" where he talked about his ideas. It was never very popular, but it stayed in because he was the editor. I wonder if he was trying to tell us what was wrong from the beginning."

"Even if it is too late to change Tosen's mind about the Soul Society," said Sloth, "it might be good to look into reforms for their own sake, so things like this don't happen again."

* * *

Chad, Ichigo, Orihime, Uryu, and Yoruichi were waiting at Sokyoku Hill when we arrived. Now that she was no longer under threat of execution, Rukia was staying in the Soul Society. A senkaimon with a spirit particle conversion device had been set up for our use. Once we exited the dangai, everyone but the soul reapers would be turned back into matter.

Before we left, the white haired Captain Ukitake called Ichigo and I over to him. He held up a pair of badges. They were made of wood and about the size of my palm. They were shaped like squashed pentagons, with a flat top and a point on the bottom. Along the top, there was a place to thread a string or ribbon through. The face featured a stylized skull with a raised X crossing through it. The back was smooth and undecorated.

"These are substitute soul reaper badges. Over the centuries, there have been a few other instances where substitute soul reapers have been deemed useful. They too were given this badge as proof of their status. You can use it to become a soul reaper whenever you wish to do so. The badge is more powerful than it looks. It is dangerous for anyone other than a soul reaper to use this. That is why it has a visual barrier built into it to keep ordinary humans from seeing it."

"Thank you, Captain Ukitake," I said. "It's more than I expected."

"Yeah, it's an honor," said Ichigo.

After a few final goodbyes, we stepped into the Senkaimon back to the world of the living. It turned out, another mistake had been made with the timing, and we were once again forced to run from the cleaner. As the bullet train covered in purple goo bore down on us, Sloth used her Soul Gem to transform. In a flash, she was wearing her magical girl outfit with its black bodysuit, red cloak, and gold circlet with her crimson Soul Gem at the forehead.

Sloth's magical girl form was faster than her untransformed state, and she could further enhance her speed without limit by pumping more magic into physical enhancement. I'd warned her what happened to Uryu on the way in to the Soul Society, so Sloth stayed toward the center of the path, keeping the long cape that fluttered behind her away from th inescapable purple goop that covered the walls.

My soul reaper self took advantage of the shunpo training I'd received and made sure to keep well ahead of the cleaner using an occasional flash step whenever it looked like it was getting close. Homunculus me just kept an eye on the others to make sure no one was lagging behind.

At the end of the path, we burst through a portal into the material world, thirty stories up in the air. Before we had time to orient ourselves or figure out how to avoid plummeting, an enormous brown cloth came out of nowhere and entangled our entire party, trapping us in a ball of fabric. With the Mad Eye I could see what was going on outside the ball. Tessai caught the ball of fabric that entangled us and he and Kiske unwrapped it into what I now recognized as a flying carpet. Those of us who had gone to the Soul Society were on it now, along with Kiske, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu.

Once we were all kneeling more or less comfortably on the large flying carpet, Kiske took off his striped bucket hat, bowed his head, and apologized for having sent us in to the Soul Society without having told us what had been going on. Ichigo spoke for all of us when he accepted the apology and noted we never would have survived long enough to rescue Rukia from her execution without his help. Ichigo also spoke for all of us when he demanded Kiske apologize to Rukia for all this when he saw her next. When Kiske implied he thought we might not go through with it if we knew what this was about and the corresponding dangers, Ichigo spoke for us all when he elbowed Kiske in the face for implying that might deter us from saving Rukia.

Mimicking the pose I'd seen Ichigo take when getting back into his body, my soul reaper self successfully remerged with my homunculus self. I was a bit disoriented at first, with both sets of memories trying to put themselves in sequence, but the mere fact that I could put myself back together was an incredible relief. I had not been looking forward to working out an accommodation with two separate and equally legitimate instances of me in my relationship with Sloth.

When Kiske offered to drop everyone off at home, I spoke up, asking if we could head back to his shop as a group, since there were a few details that needed to be taken care of first.

* * *

At Urahara's shop, Sloth started taking requests from Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Orihime of people she should try to bring back. While she was doing that, Yoruichi and Kiske quietly took me aside. At Yoruichi's prompting, I left my new substitute soul reaper badge and my soul phone in a basket on a table in the shop's back room and followed them down to the underground training area where we could speak privately.

"So, the phone I figured could be used to eavesdrop, but the badge too?" I asked.

"It has a lot of secondary functions," said Kiske. "The Soul Society wants to keep track of what their substitutes are up to."

"I guess that makes sense," I said. "Can we speak openly?"

"We can," said Yoruichi.

"Aizen had his own hogyoku, but he didn't manage to steal yours," I said, taking the small orb out of my bag. "I have a way to keep it permanently out of Aizen's hands."

"And what would that be?" asked Kiske.

"It's called the fideleous charm. The catch is, it requires a living soul willing to keep the secret, and none of us count as living souls." My mind flashed back to my first view of my original human body putrefying on my lab floor. I was a lot of things, but I could not be used as a secret keeper.

"I presume this process won't harm the person in any way," said Yoruichi.

"Not in the slightest. It's down to which of the three living humans upstairs you'll trust with the power to reveal the hogyoku's location," I verified.

"Chad," said Yoruichi firmly. "If he'll agree to it, he'd be my first choice. I've worked with him and Orihime more than I have Uryu and of the two of them, he's better at keeping quiet."

"Would you mind bringing him down here?" asked Kiske. "I'm sure Greed has some preparations he needs to make."

When Yoruichi left, Kiske and I walked over to a corner of his massive underground traiing area. I drew my wand and kicked a wall, transmuting a cubic niche with a lattice work door about a foot on a side with a stand in the center. I placed the hogyoku inside on that stand.

"You're keeping it here?" asked Urahara.

"I want it in reach in case you need to use it in a treatment again," I said.

"You heard about that, did you?"

I nodded.

"Once Aizen figures out the Soul Society doesn't have the hogyoku, this will be the next most obvious place to look," pointed out Urahara.

"Once the charm is in place, Aizen could be staring right at that spot and he won't know the hogyoku is there," I said confidently. "I've read through everything in the Soul Society I could get my hands on about kido. Nothing like this spell has even been considered in this world, so there's no basis for devising a counter."

Chad and Yoruichi arrived at that point. He wasn't sure what this was about, but he looked relaxed and at peace.

"My family who've passed on are okay," said Chad. "They're at peace. I know I'll see them again one day, when I die and pass on to the Soul Society."

"How're things going with the others?" I asked.

"Orihime's brother is happy wherever he is. Ichigo and Uryu hadn't had the chance to try yet when I got called down here," answered Chad.

"Chad, do you remember the hogyoku, the thing Aizen was trying to kill Rukia over?" I asked rhetorically. "He never got it. I stole it from him at the last minute just before he escaped. It's over there."

"We need your help to keep it secure," said Kiske.

"You want to hide it in my soul like you did with Rukia?" asked Chad.

"Nothing so invasive this time," I said. "I was trained by a group of wizards that put a high priority on security and concealment. What I want to do is put a spell on that little nitche so that you'll be the only one who can reveal its location. If you dont talk, it will be utterly impossible to find. There aren't any side effects for the secret keeper, but that person has to be a living human."

"All right. What do I have to do?" asked Chad.

"Just have a seat and let me cast," I said. This was one of the most complex and sophisticated charms there was, but I'd very nearly passed my Charms NEWT without having any magic, purely on my grasp of the theory, pronunciation, and wand movements, and I had an excellent, if new, wand. I knew I'd succeeded because I could no longer see the niche I'd placed the hogyoku in.

Urahara poked at the wall curiously. He attempted a few things, including an illusion dispelling kido that I presumed was the one Kyoraku had used to destroy my invisibility cloak and cutting the rock wall with his zanpakto.

"Now, tell us where it is, Chad," I said when Urahara had finished.

"Um, it's right there," he said, pointing at the new visible niche.

"Now that you know the secret, you can see it, but only Chad can tell other people and have them see it," I said.

"That's a very interesting technique," said Kiske. "I'm sure Tessai would want to learn it."

"I'm happy to trade knowledge for knowledge," I said. "As former captain of the Kido Corps, I'm sure he can teach me some spells that aren't in the textbooks."

We headed back upstairs, but Yoruichi stopped me to say, "The phone and the badge you know about, but in case you hadn't already suspected, the reigai Sloth's using is bound to be packed with passive surveillance equipment."

"I figured that was likely," I said. "Hopefully, Mayuri can satisfy his curiosity off passive scans of her using her powers. The plan was to swap her out into a material body once we get home. I'll toss the reigai into storage once we do that."

* * *

Back topside, I was introduced to two youngish women and a short, elderly man with grey hair and a mustache. The women were Ichigo and Uryu's mother. Small world, they'd apparently known each other when they were alive. The old man was Uryu's grandfather and the man who'd trained Uryu in quincy techniques.

Uryu's family were aware of the spiritual aspects of the world and accepted Sloth's explanation for how they came back to life easily enough. Ichigo's mother likewise handled it well. Ichigo himself was having a minor freak out.

"How am I going to explain this to dad, Karin, and Yuzu? I can't just walk in and say, 'Guess what? Mom's not dead anymore.' They'll think I'm playing some kind of sick joke."

"Greed and I could come with you," said Sloth. "Our powers are pretty flashy and obvious. We can show them off and try to convince them."

"Are you going to be okay explaining this to your family, Uryu?" I asked.

"I'll be fine," said Uryu. "I appreciate your concern."

On the way to Ichigo's house, we made a quick detour to my lab where I transmuted Sloth a new body and she swapped out of the reigai. Only some members of Ichigo's family could see and hear spirits. It was late at night, and the members of the Kurosaki household would likely be asleep. This seemed important enough to wake them for.

Sloth, Loki, and I stayed on the first floor with Misaki Kurosaki while Ichigo went upstairs, got back into his body, roused his family, and brought them downstairs. We happened to be standing in front of a large poster of Misaki that had been presumably been set up as a shrine or memorial to her when she died.

Ishin, Karin, and Yuzu all froze and stared partway down the stairs. Karin, the black haired twin looked at her brown haired twin sister and their father and said, "You're both seeing this too?"

"She's not a spirit," said Ichigo. "She's really alive."

"Misaki?" said Ishin. "Is this a dream?"

"It's really me, Ishin," said Misaki. "Karin, Yuzu, you've both grown so much. I've missed you."

"What is this?" demanded Karin angrily.

"I know this is sudden and hard to believe, but that's really your mother," I said.

"And who are you?" snapped Karin.

"My name is Greed. This is Sloth. The two of us have certain special abilities. We met your brother Ichigo recently and Sloth offered to use her power to bring back the dead on his behalf."

"Karin, it's me," said Misaki.

"What can we do to prove to you it's true?" asked Sloth.

"Bring back Cammy," said Yuzu, firmly.

"Who's Cammy?" asked Sloth.

"Cammy's a cat that I fed once, then got hit by a car," said Yuzu. "If you can really bring back the dead, prove it and bring back Cammy right now."

Sloth held up her hand and the silver ring on her finger transformed into the egg shaped form of her Soul Gem. Red light burst from the crystal and then a yellow haired, green eyed cat was standing in front of Sloth looking confused.

"Cammy?" said Yuzu, blinking in surprise. Then she called out, "Mom!" and flung herself at Misaki. Karin and Ishin followed suit.

Ichigo held back, turning to Sloth with a genuine smile on his face, he said, "Thank you."

* * *

Author's comments:  
Deciding who would and wouldn't be revivable was tricky. Anyone who'd been eaten by a hollow was easy, but for everyone else, it was a matter of deciding what sort of life they were likely to be living at this point in the reincarnation cycle.


	14. Chapter 15: Attempting to Settle In

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 15) Attempting to Settle In  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

I transmuted a body for Sloth that had an apparent age of fifteen. With this new body, I got Sloth enrolled in the high school with the others. This was partly a pragmatic way to make it easier for Sloth and Orihime to meet and have the Grief Seeds emptied and partly a way to introduce her around to the muggle classmates who didn't come to the Soul Society, but whom I'd told about Sloth and who'd helped keep me sane.

Keigo pulled me aside to ask, "Who's the new girl?"

"That's Sloth," I told him. "I told you about her. She recovered from her illness over the summer."

"You never told me she was so cute," said Keigo. "Why wouldn't you mention something that important?"

"Hi, I'm Mizuiru. It's nice to meet you," said Keigo's short, black haired friend to Sloth.

"I'm Sloth. Greed's mentioned you," she replied.

"Now you're in for it," said Keigo slyly. "He's putting the moves on your girl."

"He just said hi," I said, staring at Keigo.

"Oh sure, that's how it starts," he replied.

"You're an idiot," I said, walking over and waving greetings to Mizuiru.

"What have we here?" came Chizuru's voice. The bespectacled, short haired red headed girl approached the gathered group. "Another new transfer student. You are just so cute, I want to squeeze you."

Chizuru lunged toward Sloth, her hands making to grope her breasts. Tatski came to the rescue, grabbing Chizuru from behind and putting her in a headlock, then sweeping the red head off her feet and stomping hard on Chizuru's back. I noticed Sloth covertly dismiss the yo-yo she had in the hand with her Soul Gem ring on it.

"Can't you give it a rest, Chizuru," the black haired martial artist said while grinding her heel painfully into the red head's back. "Sorry about her. I'm Tatski. If I heard right, you're Sloth. I'm glad to hear you're feeling better."

"Was that normal?" asked Sloth, looking down at Chizuru.

"I knew she got like that with Orihime," I admitted. "I assumed it was an inside gag they had going."

Tatski sighed. "Nope. She's just as hormonal as Keigo and somehow less well socialized about it."

A few mintues later, class started and we all took our seats. We'd barely gotten through attendance when I heard a familiar voice calling out for Ichigo. Looking out the window, I saw an oddly dressed Lieutenant Renji Abarai. As the rest of the class could see and hear him, I concluded he must be in a gigai. Ichigo excused himself, mentioning Renji was a cousin on his way out. I reached into my bag and sent a tiny, alchemy powered, metal bug to observe and record what Renji had to say.

Trusting my surveillance device, I settled back in to class. It was interrupted again by a beeping sound. My soul phone had detected a hollow nearby. Apparently similar detection technology was built into my substitute soul reaper badge, as it was beeping too and the eyes of the stylized skull carving glowed yellow.

I'd never sensed a hollow's spirit energy before, but now knowing one was around, I could detect something that felt different from humans and soul reapers. It was distinctive. The hollow, which stood over three stories tall, was visible outside the classroom window. Wherever Ichigo and Renji had gone, they weren't here.

I pressed the substitute soul reaper badge to my chest, and my homunculus and soul reaper selves were separated. Homunculus me stayed in his seat while soul reaper me leapt out the window. As I flash stepped to get behind the hollow, I heard Sloth's voice at the outermost layer of my occlumency barriers saying, "Good luck."

Deciding to address that with Sloth later in private, I drew my zanpakto, lined up my shot, slashed the air, and called out, "Sectumsempra!" Nothing happened. The spell didn't go off. Tsumi no Rensa wasn't fighting me on the spell. It was as though I just didn't have enough energy to invoke the powerful dark curse.

I considered attempting a less powerful curse, but the hollow was continuing to advance toward the school. I couldn't risk another fizzle. Transmutation circles had been applied to the soles of my boots. As I raised a foot, preparing to make use of my more reliable alchemic abilities, a voice spoke in my mind. Past all my occlumency barriers, the voice of my sword welled up from the depths of my soul.

"Use my power. I promise, it will not fail you. If you defeat the hollow with alchemy, you will save the students, but if it isn't slain by a zanpakto, the soul won't be able to be purified and sent on to the Soul Society."

I nodded and declared, "Bind, Tsumi no Rensa!"

Now holding the length of chain that was my zanpakto's released form, I swung it over my head once to build momentum, then lashed out toward the hollow. I added links to the end of the chain so it could reach the hollow. It wrapped around the hollow's right leg, and I added a link to complete the loop. Yanking back on the chain, I rapidly removed links from the part binding its leg. The leg severed cleanly as I retracted my chain, blood pouring from the stump.

That got the hollow's attention. On one leg, the hollow turned toward me and threw a punch. I smirked. Wrapping Tsumi no Rensa around each hand, I held the chain in front of me to intercept the punch of the three story hollow. Before the punch connected, I started rapidly removing links near my right hand and adding them near my left hand. The resulting chainsaw severed several of the hollow's fingers and forced it to pull back its hand in pain.

The hollow was injured and wide open to an attack. That was when Ichigo showed up, splitting the hollow's head down the middle with an attack from above. As the hollow disintegrated, I resealed Tsumi no Rensa into its sword form and returned it to its sheath.

"Nice of you to show up," I bantered. "I thought I was going to have to kill that hollow on my own. Where's the lieutenant?"

"Over there having trouble getting out of his gigai," said Ichigo, annoyed,

"What did he want?" I asked.

"Apparently the Soul Society sent him to hunt hollows around here," said Ichigo. "The jerk implied it was my fault so many are showing up here."

"Your fault?" I asked.

"Hollows are drawn to sources of high spirit energy, and mine tends to leak out," said Ichigo. "Like I have any choice in the matter."

"Ah well, let's get back to class," I said hopping up to the window.

Most of the class was oblivious to my soul reaper self's presence as I climbed into the classroom and got back into my body. Uryu, Chad, Orihime, and Sloth obviously saw me. The surprise was that Tatski and Keigo could see me as well. Keigo closed his eyes and shook his head, seemingly in denial. Tatski stared wide eyed. I'd need to talk to them and explain what they were seeing when I got the chance.

I didn't have the chance to talk to anyone privately until lunchtime. The fact that I actually had to eat was mildly annoying, but as I'd spent most of my formative years human, the fact that I could get hungry again never rose beyond mild annoyance. I leaned in to converse privately with Sloth before taking the first bite of my sandwich.

"I think you have telepathic abilities independent of the incubator acting as a relay," I said.

That surprised her, but she thought to me, "Can you hear this?"

"Yes, I can," I thought back.

"Are you sure this is me doing it?" she asked silently.

"I checked the foeglass just after the hollow attack when I noticed," I thought to her. "Kyubey isn't anywhere nearby."

"So I've been able to do this on my own the whole time and that little rat never mentioned it," huffed Sloth telepathically. "I wonder what other powers I have that he didn't bother to mention."

"No way of knowing until we bump into them, I guess," I thought back. "On the plus side, this means we can do legelimency training together."

"This isn't magic," thought Sloth. "No it is magic, but not that kind of magic. I hate Kyubey. He didn't have to use those terms. Anyway, this doesn't work like a spell."

"Even so," I thought, "most of what Snape taught was more about what to do with what you find after you're in someone's head more than how to get in in the first place."

I'd finished eating during our telepathic conversation. Spotting Tatski, I excused myself and went over to her. After a brief glance around to make sure we wouldn't be overheard, I said, "You aren't going crazy."

"What?" she asked startled.

"You couldn't see spirits when I started studying here, but you've gained that ability over the summer," I said.

"No, I could see them before that," said Tatski, glancing down. "I couldn't see them clearly at first, but over time, it's gotten harder to tell them apart from living people."

"The monster outside our window this morning was a kind of evil spirit called a hollow," I explained. "They feed on the souls of humans."

"You and Ichigo fought it," noted Tatski. "But you stayed in class too. How were you in two places at the same time? And what was with those black clothes?"

"What you saw were our souls," I answered. "We both left our bodies to fight it on its own plane. I can go into more detail if you want, but basically, there are ways to keep a body animated while its soul is out."

"And the clothes?"

"They're uniforms," I said. "Ichigo and I are soul reapers. Usually, you can't become one until after you die and pass on. Some weird things happened to us. I can give you details if you want."

"Does this have anything to do with where you guys went over the summer?" asked Tatski.

"Do you remember Rukia?" I asked.

"Who?" said Tatski.

"She was a soul reaper," I replied. "The regular kind. A spirit of the dead sent to the world of the living to protect people from hollows and help souls cross over. She gave Ichigo his powers. Rukia posed as a student here using an artificial body to let her interact with normal people."

"Why don't I remember her?" asked Tatski worried.

"The Soul Society decided Rukia'd committed a crime by giving Ichigo soul reaper powers. They took her back to face execution and they erased the memories of most people who'd met her. Over the summer, we visited the Soul Society to help Rukia. She's fine. We sorted it out."

"Okay, I could believe a lot of this, but you're saying I knew this Rukia person?"

"Soul reapers are pretty free and casual with their memory replacement technology," I said. "I don't approve, but I'm in no position to influence their policies."

"Okay, if this isn't some elaborate trick, show me something, I don't know, supernatural," said Tatski.

I clapped my hands and touched a wall, transmuting the paint and changing a patch of wall from white to red in a wave of blue alchemic light.

Tatski sank into a seated position, overwhelmed by the information I'd just provided. After a long moment, she looked up at me and said, "Won't they just erase what you've told me?"

"They don't know to," I said. "If you're worried, and I can see why you would be, I can teach you some mental exercises to protect your mind."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Tatski finally.

"I know we haven't known each other that long, but I think of you as a friend," I said. "I didn't want you to have to keep questioning if the things you're seeing were real. That's why I'm going to explain it to Keigo next."

"No, you're not," said Sloth coming up behind me. "I just got through explaining to Keigo. He took it pretty well, all things considered. I think he was most bothered that Chad and Ichigo left him out of the loop."

"We didn't talk about explaining things to Keigo," I noted.

"No, but he was the other one who could see you, so when you went to explain things to Tatski, it was pretty easy to guess where this was going," said Sloth.

"I love you," I said.

"I love you too, Greed," said Sloth, giving me a quick kiss.

* * *

When school let out, I flagged down Uryu, saying, "I've got spirit energy now. I still want to learn quincy techniques."

"You have spirit energy because you're a soul reaper," said Uryu. "You do remember soul reapers and quincies are enemies, don't you?"

"Really?" I said, staring him down skeptically. "You really expect me to believe you consider us enemies after everything that's happened?"

Uryu blushed slightly and adjusted his glasses to hide it. "Quincies are born, not made. The techniques we use require study and training, but even for people with spirit energy, if you weren't born to the clan, you won't be able to use spirit energy the same way we do."

"Disappointing," I said. "I appreciate the explanation."

"I'm sorry it wasn't the answer you wanted to hear," said Uryu, walking away.

* * *

Back at the lab, I fed Loki and made dinner for Sloth and I. The process kept me focused, but when I actually sat down to eat, I just stared at my plate for a long moment.

"Greed, what's wrong?" asked Sloth. She'd switched out of her highschooler body and back to her default four year old one when we got home.

"I'm worried I might be losing my powers," I said. "My alchemy and homunculus abilities are fine, but when I fought that hollow this morning, I couldn't cast the curse I was trying for. I didn't have any problems in the Soul Society, and once I got back I managed a fidelius charm with no trouble. Today, though, it felt like I didn't have enough power to cast the curse."

"Ichigo got his powers before you did," said Sloth, "and he'd been using them longer than you've had them before he even went to the Soul Society. Why would you be different?"

"I'm not sure," I said. "My powers aren't gone. I can still use flash step, and... Wingardium Leviosa! It looks like lower level spells still work for me."

"It seems to me like you need numbers," said Sloth. "We'll go through all the spells we know and write down which you can do and which you can't. Then we run the same test tomorrow and the day after and see if we're tracking a steady decline."

"That's a good idea," I said.

"Meanwhile, eat," said Sloth. "We know spirit energy leaks out over time and it gets refilled by eating. It's possible you were just hungry."

Every spell I knew was a lot, most of which I'd never tried casting after acquiring soul reaper powers. Sloth had me attempt each spell three times. Once normally, once wandlessly, and once wordlessly and wandlessly. Each time I failed a spell, Sloth had me eat a snack and try again to see if that helped. The entire process took three hours.

"It looks like I'm currently down to OWL level," I said, looking over the chart.

"Up to OWL level," said Sloth. "This is the first time you've cast most of these spells."

"I know," I said. "Still, I managed a fidelius charm, a wordless, wandless summoning, and some high level curses."

"Even so, you never properly confirmed you were at NEWT level before," said Sloth. "Those attempts might have been outliers."

"I hope so," I said. "I really don't like the idea of losing powers."

"Tell me about it," said Sloth. "If I had my old powers, I wouldn't have had to be defended from Chizuru's groping."

"Speaking of which," I said, "there are some experiments I'd like to run that might restore some of your powers."

"What?" asked Sloth, blinking.

"Well, my homunculus body and my soul synchronize their memories whenever they come back together. If we could get your Soul Gem to synchronize with a homunculus body the same way, then the destruction of your Soul Gem would mean losing access to your magical girl powers, not cessation of existence."

"How are you planning on doing that?" asked Sloth.

"It might not be possible," I admitted, "but when I touched your Soul Gem to that reigai, there was an information exchange. It adopted your default appearance the same way it would match the appearance of a normal soul that got inside it. We'll need to run some tests to be sure."

"What sort of tests?" asked Sloth.

"First I want to confirm my intuitions about gigai, reigai, and soul candies. They've never been used quite the same way I'm thinking about. Or if they have been, the notes are locked away in the Department of Research and Development in the Soul Society."

The first set of experiments didn't strictly require Sloth, but as this concerned her intimately, she was right there observing. I got the gigai and soul candy I'd purchased from Urahara's shop out along with the reigai Sloth had used in the Soul Society. The fact that it was full of sensors and data recorders meant even if these experiments didn't bear fruit, there would potentially be useful data to be plundered from the Department of Research and Development at a later date.

After inserting my soul candy into Sloth's reigai, I ordered it to get inside the gigai. I then used my substatute soul reaper badge to separate the three part structure. Putting the soul candy back in the reigai, I used my substitute badge to eject my soul. Soul reaper me clapped and touched the oroboros mark on homunculus me's chest. The mark glowed blue for an instant, then that body collapsed like a puppet who's strings had been cut.

"What did you just do?" demanded Sloth.

"I needed a homunculus body for the next stage of this experiment," I said. "I don't want to make a new one if I'm not sure this will work."

"You erased your other self's mind," said Sloth.

"I have a full backup of his memories," I said, tapping my temple. "Once these experiments are done, I'll get back in, we'll resynchronize, and everything'll be fine. For now, though, I need to see what happens when a soul candy in a reigai gets in."

After getting into my homunculus body, the soul candy seemed to be functioning normally. The next stage was important. Using my badge, I expelled the reigai an the soul candy pill. To my delight, the homunculus body remained animated and seemed to have retained the memories and personality of the soul candy. After blanking the homunculus' mind with alchemy again, it was time for the experiment that required Sloth's Soul Gem.

Sloth switched to the reigai, and I tried expelling her from it with my glove and badge to no effect. She tried swallowing the soul candy pill, but immediately puked it up. Next, she climbed into the gigai. The badge and glove expelled the reigai from the gigai, and left Sloth's consciousness inhabiting the reigai. Swallowing the soul candy left the soul candy inhabiting the gigai and the reigai being expelled like with the badge and glove. So far, everything was working as I'd hoped.

Using the Reigai, Sloth climbed inside my homunculus body. I was holding my breath. The body animated as expected. I used my badge to separate the homunculus body from the reigai. The homunculus body slumped to the ground like dead weight. There'd been no information transfer, no synchronization of memories. Subsequent tests confirmed data I imprinted on the homunculus didn't get into Sloth's Soul Gem, and that Sloth was unable to access the shape shifting powers inherent in a homunculus body.

As I got back in my homunculus body and resynchronized, Sloth said, "I guess that experiment didn't pan out."

"I wouldn't call it a failure," I said. "We learned something about your Soul Gem. Thoughts are isolated to the Gem's hardware. It'll be more work copying you out of there, but in the meantime, it probably means mind altering potions won't have any effect on you. It'll take some additional testing to confirm."

"I've got time," said Sloth. "I am disappointed this didn't work, though."

"There was one more thing I wanted you to try with the reigai," I mentioned.

"What's that?"

"Try to transmute something."

Giving me a confused look, Sloth clapped her hands and touched a wall. Blue alchemic light poured form the wall as an archway opened into the next room.

"I don't understand," said Sloth, looking at her hands. "Why can I use alchemy now when we established I couldn't after Kyubey transformed me?"

"A reigai is a faithful reproduction of the spiritual body of a normal human soul," I said. "What exact components of the soul are required for alchemy I'm still not sure yet. That homunculi can't use alchemy without an attached soul demonstrates that component isn't the part responsible for consciousness and animation. Kyubey dumped a lot of pieces when he made your Soul Gem. The reigai has those missing pieces so you're able to use alchemy while inhabiting it."

At that point, our conversation was interrupted by my soul phone ringing. Picking it up, there was an alert about an unknown spiritual presence. The presence was near Orihime's apartment. I quickly checked my foeglass, but it remained unchanged since we returned to the world of the living. Aizen was there, but faded in the background alongside figures I presumed to be his army. Gin was still mysteriously absent.

"Orihime might be in trouble," I said. "We need to check on her."

Sloth nodded and I clapped. Whatever was going on with my soul reaper powers, my alchemy was back to its full utility now that I was back in the world of hte living, and I hadn't spent all that time learning to use the Gate to emulate apparition for nothing. The two of us arrived outside the door to Orihime's apartment almost instantly.

"Orihime!" I called out, knocking on the door.

The lock clicked open and Orihime answered the door. "Greed? Sloth? What are you doing here?"

"I got a message about an unusual spiritual presence," I said, holding up my soul phone.

"Oh, you must mean Sora," she said. "Come in, I'd love to introduce you."

"Who was that, Orihime?" asked a voice from the kitchen.

When we entered, there was a young man seated at the table. His picture had been in a small shrine in the living room. He was smiling warmly and holding a cup of tea.

"Sloth, Greed, this is my brother Sora. He came back from the Soul Society. Sora, these are Sloth and Greed. They tried to bring you back to life yesterday."

"I couldn't bring you back to life because you were already on your way?" asked Sloth.

"That's right," said Sora. "I do appreciate the thought, though."

"Does the Soul Society know you're here?" I asked.

"Are you planning on turning me in?" he asked in jest.

"Of course not," I said, "but it would be nice to know if we're going to have to fight Renji over you."

"Why would we have to fight Renji?" asked Orihime.

"He would have gotten the same alert I did," I said. "In case Ichigo didn't mention it, he was at the school this morning because he's been assigned to deal with the hollows in Karakura Town."

"I wouldn't worry about it," said Sora. "I'm sure the soul reapers have better things to do than make a fuss over me coming to visit my baby sister."

"Well, we just wanted to make sure you were okay," said Sloth. "We'll let you and your brother have some time to yourselves. It was nice meeting you, Sora."

"Likewise," I said, following Sloth's lead and heading for the door.

"I'll see you in class tomorrow," said Orihime as she closed the door behind us.

"Will the Soul Society make a fuss?" asked Sloth when we were outside. "You absorbed that library."

"Souls aren't supposed to be able to freely travel between worlds," I said. "He'd have had to use a senkaimon, and those are all controlled by the Soul Society. They don't like their own soul reapers lingering in the world of the living. That Rukia overstayed her mission was the first thing they noticed."

"So, he might be in trouble," concluded Sloth.

"We should stay here and talk to Renji when he arrives," I agreed.

I closed my eyes and reached out with my senses, trying to determine where Renji was from his spirit energy. I could sense Sloth next to me, an energy that wasn't quite spirit energy suffusing her reigai. I could detect Orihime's spirit energy inside her apartment. There was something I couldn't quite place. After a few minutes of concentration bordering on meditation, I felt a number of presences with spirit energy approaching.

"Greed, something's wrong," said Sloth urgently.

I opened my eyes and saw a huge, blood red gate hovering outside Orihime's apartment building. Bones were arranged on the front, and the doors spread apart, revealing a crimson light within. It resembled, but was not identical to, the gates of Hell I'd seen my first day in this world. Orihime screamed and flew out of her window, apparently being sucked toward the gate.

Sloth transformed into her magical girl form, and the two of us leaped into the air to catch Orihime. The wind pulled us off course. I tried to use the arrays on my shoes to form a foothold and correct my course, but the transmutation failed. Sloth summoned a pair of yo-yos. She threw one at the railing on Orihime's balcony and wrapped it around, giving her a solid anchor. The other yo-yo she threw at Orihime, clearly intending to wrap her leg, but the winds again blew her yo-yo off course.

Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Renji arrived on the scene. Ichigo leapt straight toward the gate, but Orihime disappeared inside an instant before he was in range. The gate closed and vanished into thin air once it had her.

"What happened?" demanded Ichigo.

"I got a signal on my soul phone about an unknown spiritual presence," I said, holding up the device. "Sloth and I came to make sure she was okay. The presence turned out to be her brother Sora."

"Her brother?" asked Ichigo.

"I thought you couldn't bring him back to live," said Uryu.

"I couldn't," said Sloth. "He said it was because he was already on his way back anyway."

"What about the gate?" demanded Renji. "Did her brother summon it?"

"I don't know," said Sloth. "We knew you would've gotten the same message Greed did, so we decided to wait here for you."

"Why?" asked Renji.

"Because the Soul Society's been a little unreasonable lately and we didn't want Orihime's brother to get in trouble," I said.

"Well, he's in trouble now," said Ichigo.

"Agreed," I said. "His spiritual pressure vanished around the time the gate appeared. There's no way this was a coincidence."

"We have to find where they took her," said Ichigo.

Turning to Renji, I said, "This situation calls for Bakudo 58, Kakushitsuijako."

"Um, yeah, kido's never exactly been my strong suit," said Renji. "Between that and the severe power limiters I'm under as a lieutenant in the world of the living and there's no way I could manage a fifties level kido."

"What about you, Uryu?" asked Sloth. "Is there some quincy technique you could use to find where they took Orihime?"

"Unfortunately not," said Uryu.

"Wait, spirit ribbons," said Ichigo. Then he closed his eyes and bowed his head in concentration. After a long moment, dozens of thick white ribbons surrounded Ichigo, each seemingly emerging from the ground and one end blown upward by an unfelt wind.

"What's he doing?" asked Sloth quietly.

"Spirit ribbons are the manifestation of spirit energy in the air," explained Uryu. "Each ribbon represents a different person. Ichigo is trying to find the one that connects to Orihime. If he can find it, he can use it to find her."

"It's no use," snapped Ichigo as the spirit ribbons vanished. "I can't find her spirit ribbon."

"That combined with the gate we saw tells me they've probably taken her someplace other than the world of the living," said Renji. "Despite how it looked, I don't think those were the gates of Hell. Hell wouldn't abduct a living human like that."

"What about those cards of yours?" asked Ichigo. "You found my body when Kon ran off with it."

"Worth a try," I said, taking a deck of tarot cards out of my bag and shuffling. After a few tries, I looked up and said, "Orihime's alive and we're going to find her. The cards aren't giving me anything more specific than that."

* * *

Author's comments:  
This represents the beginning of the bount arc. It is my intention to integrate all of the anime filler arcs and the four movies. I'll also be drawing connections and parallels as Sloth and Greed investigate a bit deeper than Ichigo ever bothered with.


	15. Chapter 16: The Investigation

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 16) The Investigation  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Obvious means of tracking Orihime having eluded us, we were forced to search Karakura Town on foot in the faint hope of finding some clue or trace of spirit energy we could use to find Orihime or her abductors. We searched all night with no luck. I reminded myself I needed to start a cauldron of felix felicis brewing since my emergency supply had been destroyed in the Soul Society.

Our party split up so Sloth, Ichigo, and Renji could get their bodies. Once that was done, we met back up at the school to plan our next move. While Sloth was getting her body, I filled my pockets with red stones. That failed transmutation might have just been me misestimating the wind, but combined with the problems I was having with my spirit energy, I didn't want to risk my alchemy failing in a critical moment again.

There was a gut punch waiting for us at the school.

"Orihime? Who are you talking about?" asked Tatski when Ichigo asked if she'd seen her. The rest of our classmates were the same. We were the only ones who remembered she'd ever existed. Noticing the look on our faces, Tatski hung back with us when the other girls left and asked, "Is this like what happened with Rukia? Did I know this Orihime person?"

"You told her about the memory replacements?" asked Renji annoyed.

"She deserves to know what's happening around her," I said firmly.

Uryu sighed and said, "Orihime was one of your closest friends. She's been abducted by unknown parties. That whoever did this has access to memory replacement technology narrows the suspect list. Whoever did this, we're trying to find her and bring her back."

"How often has this happened?" asked Tatski. "How many friends have disappeared that I've just forgotten about?"

"You see," said Renji. "This is exactly why telling people about this is a bad idea. What good does it do her to know about it when there's nothing she can do about it?"

Tatski punched Renji in the face, hard. Tatski was one of the strongest and most skilled martial artists in the country, having taken second place in a recent national tournament while nursing a broken arm. Renji was under a set of crippling power restrictions. Renji didn't flinch from the attack and Tatski's knuckles were bleeding.

"I know it's not fair, but if you insist on remaining aware of all this, you're going to have to accept that a lot of the time, there's going to be nothing you can do about it," said Renji. "We'll do everything in our power to bring Orihime back and to protect you and your other friends. Try not to worry over things outside your control."

I drew my wand and mended the torn skin and broken bones in Tatski's hand before the six of us left the school to continue our search. Tatski wasn't happy about it, but Renji'd made his point. She headed off to class.

* * *

Our party returned to Orihime's apartment to look for additional clues. Her door was locked. I put a stop to a debate about whether Uryu should pick the lock or Chad should break it down by drawing my wand, pointing it at the lock, and incanting, "Alohamora!"

As we filed in through the now unlocked door, Renji asked, "Who would design a kido for something like that?"

"People for whom soul eating monsters are an occasional problem rather than a continuous one," I said. "Not being in a state of constant war lets you broaden the range of your spells."

There wasn't much to see in Orihime's apartment. Orihime and Sora's tea cups on the table partially corroborated my and Sloth's story. Renji took the opportunity to raid Orihime's refrigerator to the annoyance of those of us actually looking for clues.

"Our next stop has to be Urahara's shop," I said at last.

"Why?" asked Ichigo.

"The memory replacements they used on Tatski and the others," said Uryu, catching my meaning. "His shop sells the equipment needed to do that. It's the only place whoever's responsible could have gotten it from. His record will give us a suspect list."

"It's not the only pace," said Renji. "Aizen had access to the technology too."

"There's also the possibility someone from the Soul Society is to blame," I added.

"What?" demanded Renji angrily.

"Captain Kurotsuchi already tried to abduct Orihime and use her as a test subject once," said Sloth. "He has means and motive. It'd be easy for him to make a gigai that looked like Sora to get close to her."

A phone range interrupting our conversation. It was Renji's soul phone. We crowded around as he answered, and I heard a young girl's voice on the other end say, "I've got your friend. She's here with me right now."

Ichigo snatched the phone to talk to the kidnapper. After the girl hung up, Ichigo delivered their ultimatum. Our group had to get to a nearby park in three minutes or else. She'd also added that if we "cheated" using teleportation like Sloth and I had employed the previous night, we'd never see Orihime again.

As we ran, we reviewed the clues. Renji's number wouldn't be difficult for anyone with a connection to the spiritual side to get their hands on. The girl knew we'd been in Orihime's apartment when she called. That we didn't see her suggested stealth or remote surveillance. That Sloth and I'd been observed transporting to Orihime's apartment the night before told us we were dealing with more than one person, and their ability to impersonate Sora such that Orihime couldn't spot the imposter suggested a very intelligent and well informed adversary. Both Mayuri and Aizen fit the bill.

We arrived at the park in penty of time. A pay phone rang. While Ichigo talked, I popped the Mad Eye into my right eye socket and tried to find the enemy watching us from concealment. No one suspicious seemed to be lurking around.

The kidnappers next directed us to a supermarket across town. To get there within the time limit, we'd have to more than double the human land speed record. We all had superhuman abilities, so this might be doable, but some of our abilities were more costly than others.

"Sloth, you can ride on my back and conserve your magic," I said.

"Fuck conserving my magic," said Sloth, transforming into her magical girl outfit with its black bodysuit, hooded red cloak, and golden circlet housing her Soul Gem. "I've got plenty of Grief Seeds and we're going to get Orihime back long before I ran out. You can carry one of the boys who fall behind."

With a few seconds to spare, we reached the supermarket. The payphone outside was already ringing. An employee was reaching for it. Sloth poured on additional speed, surrounding her body in an aura of crimson flames. Her cape fluttering behind her, she snatched the phone before he could pick it up. Startled, the man stumbled backward and quickly scrambled back inside the shop.

The next place they sent us running off to was Urahara's shop. When we arrived, Ururu and Jinta were out front. Ururu was sweeping the approach.

"Hey, where's your phone? We need to use it right away!" demanded Ichigo.

"Yeah, it's a life or death emergency!" added Renji.

"Well, look who's here," said Tessai as he and Urahara emerged from the shop.

"Welcome Ichigo and friends," greeted Urahara holding up a fan partly concealing his face. "What's all the excitement about? Oh, the phone is inside if you need to use it."

We could hear the phone ringing inside and rushed past the shop's staff to get to the phone. While Ichigo talked to the kidnappers, Kiske offered to record the call. He pulled out a drawer under the phone to reveal a tape recorder booked up to the phone.

The way the recorder was hooked up, we could all hear the new ultimatum. We were to show up at Orihime's apartment at eight o'clock that night. When the girl hung up, we explained the situation to Urahara, Tessai, Ururu, Jinta, and Yoruichi who arrived in her cat form just as the kidnappers hung up.

* * *

"They're going to regret giving us this much time to prepare," I said grimly as I descended the ladder into Urahara's underground training area with Sloth, Tessai, and Yoruichi. Ichig, Uryu, Chad, and Renji headed off to make their own preparations. Kiske was analyzing the phone recording and Ururu and Jinta were going over the shop's records to determine who'd purchased memory replacers, in case the culprit wasn't one of my two primary suspects.

When we emerged into the training area, the place was a war zone. Future instances of Sloth and I were fighting each other all out. Those mes were in soul reaper form and fighting with my zanpakto in its sealed and released state. Around the border, a dozen Sloths and mes were racing one another on laps, the mes employing flash step and the Sloths keeping pace using her magic. Another batch of mes were practicing chants for soul reaper kido spells and still more of me were reviewing the magic I'd learned in Hogwarts.

"What is all this?" asked Yoruichi.

"Greed and I each have a device that lets us travel back in time," said Sloth, holding up her silver pocket watch with a Hufflepuff badger on the lid. "We're using them to get a few months of intense training in before we go to this meeting tonight."

"Why don't you use this to rescue Orihime before she was kidnapped?" asked Tessai.

"One of the limitations on the hour reversal charm is that it obeys the self consistency principle," I explained. "We can't change the past."

"Any advice or instruction you could offer while we're training would be a big help," added Sloth.

The training area was bigger than it looked and the two of us were taking advantage of every square foot. Early on, we learned some of the limits of Sloth's Soul Gem. Remote control of her body was only possible up to a distance of about one hundred meteres. Moving beyond that distance broke the connection, and her Soul Gem needed to be brought back into physical contact with her body to reestablish the connection. In an untransformed state, she needed physical contact with her Soul Gem to use her magic, but after transforming, there was no observable diminishing of her magical abilities up to the one hundred meter limit.

Sloth's telepathy was subject to the same one hundred meter limit. Notably, this seemed to be the only limit. Lack of eye contact, intervening obstacles, and being unable to tell where her target was didn't make telepathy any harder for her. Snape's recorded legelimency lessons helped Sloth learn to dig deeper than surface thoughts.

Yoruichi managed to give Sloth a lot of useful advice about rationing her magic. By only enhancing the muscles involved with running, and only while her feet were actually in contact with a surface, Sloth could run farther and faster while depleting her Soul Gem far more slowly. It didn't take much imagination to apply the same logic to a punch.

A few subjective days into our training and we'd conclusively confirmed I wasn't losing my powers. My abilities were gradually improving, rather than fading. I managed to work out that I was under a power limiter that decreased the amount of spirit energy I could release at any given time. Once I knew what to look for, it didn't take long to trace the source to my substitute soul reaper badge.

It made sense as a feature. The Soul Society put their own captain and lieutenant level fighters under power limiters in the world of the living, and Ichigo's spirit energy at least was captain level. By ditching the badge, I could access my full powers, so that'd be a good option in an emergency, but for training purposes, a limiter was useful.

The centerpiece to the training regimen was a series of increasingly vicious battles to the death between Sloth and my soul reaper self. These fights gave us both more experience using our weapons, spells, and speed against a resisting, intelligent opponent. They also let me increase my spirit energy very quickly. Spirit energy increases fastest when the soul is in danger of destruction, and Sloth's ability to revive me after killing me meant that danger was very real. I did die numerous times during training, gaining both raw power and experience along the way.

My increased spirit energy allowed me to cast stronger and stronger spells despite the limiter, working my way through the kido spells, which were numbered in order of difficulty and power required. Tessai had a lot of useful advice about using kido in battle, and true to our agreement taught me a few forbidden kido in exchange for my teaching him a few of the advanced spells I'd learned at Hogwarts.

A few objective hours into the training, the earliest me went upstairs and ordered a pizza. Once i brought it down, the various mes multiplied the pizza and we were all able to eat and replenish our spirit energy. The lack of variety did start to be aggravating after a week or so, but given what we were trying to accomplish, it was a minor thing.

Once my spirit energy had grown enough to handle higher level spells, I joined Sloth in studying legelimency. We discovered that in addition to her occlumency training, Sloth's Soul Gem had the equivalent of a hardware firewall. It was impossible to access thoughts or memories she wasn't deliberately projecting. This telepathic defense was likely part of the reason she couldn't synchronize with a homunculus body. I was forced to practice my legelimency on other mes.

Our high speed battles to the death took on a more three dimensional quality after Sloth worked out that she could use her magic to create glowing crimson discs to serve as midair footholds. As I became stronger, Sloth increased the output of magic from her Soul Gem to keep the fight relatively even. This burned through her magic faster, to the point that we were running low on Grief Seeds.

With Orihime unavailable, the only way we had to empty Grief Seeds was to let them hatch into witches then defeat the witch inside its barrier. Fortunately, that fit in pretty well with our training program. Our improved abilities combined with our experience with these particular witches meant defeating them got easier and easier to the point Sloth would let two instances of the same witch emerge at once and we'd race to see which of us could defeat our witch first.

Apparition practice took place concurrently with practicing healing spells. I splinched myself half a dozen times before getting a firm handle on apparition. My healing spells were fully capable of reattaching severed limbs and organs left behind during accidents. I suspected the power limiter was making apparition harder, but the splinching injuries were one more source of risk to stimulate the growth of my spirit energy, so I just kept practicing until I was able to use the technique reliably even during the intense distraction of combat.

When Sloth and I emerged from Urahara's training area later that day, we were both far stronger and more confident in our powers than we had ever been. Sloth's magic and my spirit energy felt like they were truly a part of us, as trustworthy and reliable as our alchemy.

* * *

Sloth and I met Ichigo, Renji, Uryu, and Chad outside Orihime's apartment. My ability to sense spirit energy had improved significantly during my training, and I could recognize the unique qualities of their energies well enough to distinguish who was who without looking. When they arrived, all four paused to stare at me.

"What did you do?" asked Renji.

"You mean my spirit energy?" I asked. "I did some training to build it up so I'd be ready to confront the kidnappers."

"What kind of training could increase your spirit energy that much in one afternoon?" demanded Renji.

"It doesn't matter," said Ichigo. "What matters is getting Orihime back."

As we spoke, a bright golden light poured from the window of Orihime's apartment. The six of us rushed to the door. Pointing my finger at the lock, I cast a wordless, wandless unlocking spell and the door flew open, revealing a surprised looking Orihime on the other side.

"What's going on, guys?" asked Orihime.

"Did she bring you back like she said she would?" verified Chad.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," said Orihime.

"You aren't hurt, are you?" asked Ichigo.

"Huh? Hurt by what?" asked Orihime.

"Orihime, you were kidnapped by someone last night," explained Uryu.

"Huh? I was what? No way," said Orihime as though we were making a joke.

Further questioning revealed her memory of the previous day had been erased. We came inside and explained the previous day's events to Orihime. Everyone knew this wasn't over, so once the explanations finished, we just sat together, waiting.

Uryu sensed something a few seconds before a crash shook the apartment building. A black tornado shot through with sparks of red lightning had hit the building. The swirling vortex was visible through the window. Renji tried the door and found it not only locked, but sealed in such a way that he couldn't break the door either.

It was all a distraction. Orihime jumped on Chad's back while we were figuring out what was going on and put him in a sleeper hold. Either she'd been possessed or she was an imposter.

I drew my wand, pointing it at Orihime, and called out, "Relashio!" My spell forced her to release Chad, who dropped to his knees gasping for breath. Orihime hopped backward and her features melted into a new appearance. In her place now stood a man with blue eyes, a pencil thin mustache, and long hair that was black on the right and blond on the left. He was dressed formally, wearing glasses and a top hat.

"What the hell?" said Renji, gripping the hilt of his zanpakto, preparing to draw.

"It's about time you showed your face, you bastard," declared Ichigo. "You're the one who called us!"

"Oh, that's just ignorant," said the man. "Did you really think that little voice could come out of someone like me?"

"You're a shape shifter," I said. "You could sound like whoever you want."

"Fair enough," he said with a shrug. "I'm Kurodo and I've been looking forward to this for some time. And there's someone else."

A shadow formed on the ceiling and a man wearing a fur trimmed, dark blue bodysuit lowered out of it. A mask hid everything but his green eyes and a few strands of red hair. This new man said, "Pleased to meet you."

"Give us our friend back, or else," said Sloth, forming a yo-yo in her hand.

My wand was trained on them. Ichigo and Renji drew their swords. Uryu was hesitating with forming his bow. Chad hadn't managed to get back up yet.

Red light shone through the window behind the pair bright enough to temporarily blind us. Sloth had pulled the same trick on me during our training, brightly flaring her aura to distract me and create an opening. Not willing to risk a friendly fire incident while temporarily blinded, I threw a full body binding curse at the masked man.

"We'll be taking this one with us," said Kurodo.

My eyes were starting to adjust to the light, and I saw one of Sloth's yo-yos pass through the space where Kurodo's head had been. Both men had vanished along with Chad. I'd developed an eye for speed during training, and that wasn't what happened. It looked more like a form of teleportation.

Chad hadn't been taken far. We could see him hurling through the air outside toward the same gate that had taken Orihime. I was about to cast an impediment jinx to stop Chad's momentum, but Ichigo rushed forward into my line of fire, trying to reach Chad with his flash step. It didn't work, and Chad vanished into the gate.

Three figures appeared on top of the gate. The two men we'd already encountered stood flanking a blond haired, blue eyed girl.

"I'm right here," declared the girl, confirming she had been the voice on the phone earlier. "Hi, there."

"Who the hell are you and what's all this about?" demanded Ichigo.

"My name is Ririn," said the girl, giggling. "Nice to meet you too."

"What do you want? Why are you doing this?" demanded Ichigo.

"Do you like my game?" asked Ririn.

"All right, that does it," said Ichigo, gripping his sword.

"I don't think I can kill a kid, though," said Renji.

"I can," I said, snapping my fingers. A flame alchemy array had appeared on the back of my left hand. The tornado had vanished, and the wind currents hadn't behaved predictably around the gate previously, which would normally disrupt any attempt to transmute the air. The red stones in my pocket changed that, allowing me to successfully transmute the air around the three kidnappers into a terrifyingly unstable nitrogen oxygen compound. The snap of my fingers was all it took to detonate the explosive gas.

The resulting explosion shook the ground and shattered windows on every house on the block. The three kidnappers disappeared inside the heart of the fireball. What drew my eye was the gate, which not only suffered no visible damage from the explosion, but also failed to distort the shape of the fireball. It was like the gate wasn't really there, just an illusion.

When the deafening sound of the explosion ceased, the gate vanished and I could hear Ririn's voice, laught and she said, "See you later."

We stared after them in silence for a long moment before we had to accept they'd gotten away again and now they had Chad too. If they'd been so much as inconvenienced by my flame alchemy, they'd given no sign of it.

"What was that attack?" asked Renji. "Was that kido?"

"No, it was alchemy," I said, taking a small jar of black ink out of my bag. Dipping two fingers in the ink, I drew a circle on the floor.

"More alchemy?" asked Uryu.

"No, this time it is kido," said Sloth as I began to chant. "After Renji said he couldn't cast that soul reaper tracking spell when we lost Orihime, Greed trained so he could. He already tried using it to locate Orihime. Hopefully with Chad much more recently taken, it'll work this time."

A kido's chant is a way of building up power for the spell. With training, you can skip the chant and unleash the spell immediately, but the spell is always more powerful if the full incantation is recited. The chants are long, and can be unwieldy in battle, but in a situation like this, I'd be a fool not to put everything I could into this tracking spell.

"Bakudo 58: Kakushitsuijaku!" Finishing the spell, I pressed my palms to the circle and white light poured from the space defined by that circle. Numbers flickered across the white light at high speed and I stared hard trying to make them out. When I'd practiced this tracking Renji and Ichigo, the numbers read out as map coordinates indicating their position. Now, I hadn't been able to make out a single number before the light faded and the spell ended. I shook my head.

"Damn it," said Ichigo. "They're picking us off one by one."

"We should head back to Urahara's shop," said Uryu. "Their side of the investigation might've gone better, and they might recognize the names or descriptions of the people we just met."

"Good thinking, Uryu," said Ichigo. "I just need to stop off at home to pick something up on the way."

* * *

What Ichigo wanted to grab was his human body. Kon had been left in Ichigo's body, but given what we were up against, the mod soul might not be sufficient protection. I avoided voicing the thought that they might go after Ichigo's family. I did quietly drop an alchemy powered surveillance bug at Ichigo's house just in case.

At Urahara's shop, Ichigo used his substitute soul reaper badge to remove Kon's mod soul pill from his body and put it inside the stuffed lion doll Kon usually occupied. Kiske promised to keep Ichigo's body safe, and we sat down to compare notes.

"I was hoping that I could get a reimon, which is the spirit equivalent of a fingerprint, but I didn't come up with anything," said Kiske as he sipped a cup of tea.

"You can fingerprint a phone call?" asked Sloth.

I nodded. "I assimilated the details in the Soul Society's library. Any sort of recording leaves traces of spirit energy. It's the same principle that lets wizard photographs work."

"So what does it mean that there wasn't one on this recording?" asked Ichigo.

"I definitely felt something strange about the spiritual presence of those three," noted Uryu.

"You could feel that?" asked Ichigo.

"You've never been known for your ability to sense spiritual pressure, Ichigo," said Uryu.

"Shut your big mouth," snapped Ichigo.

"Looks like the enemy's powers are derived from Kido," said Tessai. "If I'm right about that, then a direct attack with a zanpakto is going to have little or no effect on them."

"I don't know," said Sloth. "It seemed more like they were dodging our attacks than like they were just immune. If we can stop them teleporting around, we should be able to take them out."

"An anti-disapparition jinx might work," I said, following Sloth's train of thought.

"How many of these foreign kido do you know?" asked Renji annoyed.

"I went to school for seven years at a school where they were the primary subject," I said. "Anyway, the spell might not work. There are forms of teleportation it's no help against, but I'll lay down the spell next time we see them anyway."

At that point, the shop's phone rang. Kiske answered, then handed the phone to Ichigo with a serious look that told us it was them again. They wanted us to come to the museum.

"They must've watched us come here, but they aren't anywhere within one hundred meters now," said Sloth when the call ended.

"At least there's no time limit this time," said Ichigo. "We can make some quick preparations before we head out."

Uryu made some alterations to Kon's stuffed animal body. I made everyone a single use portkey that would transport them back to Urahara's shop when touched. I wrapped each portkey in a cloth and everyone pocketed theirs. Uryu slung his new Kon shaped backpack on and we headed out. As we walked, Ichigo explained that the idea was for Kon to watch our backs and alert us if anything was happening behind us. Uryu added a pocket in Kon's stomach to store some equipment in.

* * *

Author's comments:  
The bit between Tatski and Renji was one I'm pretty happy with. The abductions happening during this part of the arc do a great job emphasizing how helpless most people are against spiritual threats. The soul reapers do genuinely believe they're doing people a favor by keeping the truth about how dangerous the world is from people who couldn't do anything about it if they knew.


	16. Chapter 17: Shifting Advantages

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 17) Shifting Advantages  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

"I wouldn't complain if I had to ride on your back, Sloth," said Kon as we walked.

"What is wrong with this world?" asked Sloth. "Between Chizuru and this thing, I've gotten more lewd comments than all the other worlds we've been in combined."

"It's probably the body," I said. "The last time you looked like a hot teenager was in Hogwarts. By the time anyone but me was interested, everyone knew we were together and that either one of us could kick their asses."

"Still, I feel like I need to get my Ultimate Escape back just for protection from the perverts," said Sloth with a sigh.

"Perverts?" demanded Kon, insulted.

I jammed the tip of my wand against his nose threateningly, silencing further complaints and said, "Say something that makes her uncomfortable again, I'll take away your ability to speak. Try to touch her when she doesn't want it, I'll take away your ability to move. You want to be reduced to a conscious and aware but otherwise normal stuffed animal, keep pushing your luck."

"Got it," said Kon in a small, terrified voice.

We reached the museum a minute later. Renji suggested leaving someone outside to keep watch, so I used my combat pass to split my homunculus and soul reaper selves. Soul reaper me cast a disillusionment charm on homunculus me so the later could keep watch undetected. The rest of us went inside.

A tyrannosaurus skeleton was on display right when we walked in. The bones were plaster replicas, not real fossils. It was supported by an internal wire frame that wasn't set up for articulation. As I looked it over, Ririn's voice sounded over the PA system.

"Welcome," she said amid a flurry of giggles.

"We've done everything you've asked us to do. Now show yourself," shouted Ichigo.

"First we play hide and seek," said Ririn. "You guys are it."

"What the hell?" asked Renji.

"We didn't come to play games!" shouted Uryu.

"Don't be spoilsports," snapped Ririn. "If you find us, I promise we'll return your friends."

"All right. I guess we'll find you, then," said Ichigo.

"Oh, one other thing," said Ririn. "Take off your weapons and leave them there."

"What?" demanded Renji.

"You really think we'll just hand you more hostages?" I growled.

"You never know what might happen to your friends if you don't play," teased Ririn.

"It's all right," said Tsumi no Rensa inside my mind. "You can rescue Zangetsu, Sabemaru, and I after Chad and Orihime are safe."

"If you're sure," I said, sliding the sword and sheath out of my belt.

"You can put them in those cases," said Ririn.

Three display cases had been set up, each labeled with the name of one of our zanpakto. They were showing off how much they knew about us. They'd also deliberately misspelled each name, which got a rise out of Renji and Ichigo.

As I put my sword in its case, I muttered the incantation for a sticking charm. Without the countercharm, they'd have to take part of the wall with them if they wanted to take my sword. I also added a quick unbreakable charm on the glass and a locking spell on the case.

Misspelling the word wand wasn't going to work, so they labeled hte case they'd prepared for my wand "stick." I took none of the precautions I used on my zanpakto with my wand. It wasn't sentient and was ultimately replaceable, so I could afford the risk they'd try to take it in order to leave it easily accessible through a summoning charm.

"Are thye nearby?" I thought to Sloth.

"I can't pick up any of their thoughts," reported Sloth telepathically. "Though whether that means they're out of range or that 'no reimon' thing is messing with my powers, I can't say. I can't read Kon's mind either. Would them being mod souls explain the lack of reimon?"

"I don't know," I thought back. "The data for Project Spearhead, the Soul Society project that created the mod souls, wasn't in the library for public consumption."

"I didn't have any trouble reading that normal soul candy back in the lab," noted Sloth through our mental link.

Our group entered a room with four doorways, one in the center of each wall. Through the three doors we hadn't entered through, we could see identical copies of the same room stretched out as far as the eye could see.

"A non-euclidean maze," said Sloth with a smirk.

"Non-euclidean?" asked Renji.

"It means it doesn't conform to conventional geometry," said Uryu. "Like how all these rooms couldn't possibly fit in a building this size."

"It doesn't look like the clues we use to navigate witchs' labyrinths apply here," I said.

"The safest way to navigate a labyrinth is to advance with your hand against one wall, and I suggest we start this way," said Uryu, leading our party into the room to our right. After three right turns, non-euclidean geometry was confirmed. We retraced our steps only to find the entrance had been replaced with another path to infinitely repeating rooms.

"Kon, this is your fault!" yelled Ichigo. "You were supposed to keep watch behind us!"

"I've been watching the entire time, and there was nothing out of the ordinary," Kon yelled back.

"It isn't his fault," I said to Ichigo. "They obviously changed the rooms around after we left the first room. There'd be nothing strange to see."

"Still, if they can change the rooms around, how can we navigate at all?" asked Renji.

"You're forgetting this is a game to them," said Uryu. "So far, they've never demanded we do something that was actually impossible. I think it's likely they've provided some clues about how to navigate this maze."

"The boy in the glasses is getting warmer," crackled Ririn's voice over the PA system.

Uryu took a ball of yarn out of the pocket he'd added to Kon's body and tied one end around a post. With the yarn kept taunt, we'd know if it was severed by the rooms being rearranged when we left. I stomped and used the array on the sole of my boot to transmute the floor, engraving the number one on a tile. Moving straight forward, I transmuted a two on the analogous tile in the next room.

Ahead of us, the room wasn't identical. While from a distance, the rooms had seemed to repeat infinitely, up close, the room ahead was dark, mist filled, and showed no obvious continuous look of rooms, or any other exit. When we went in to check it out, I felt a psychic attack batter against my occlumency barriers. Uryu, Renji, and Ichigo fell unconscious from the attack. Sloth and Kon hadn't even noticed the attempt, and both wore expressions of surprise when the others fell unconsious.

"We have to get them out of this room," declared Kon.

Sloth and I nodded to the stuffed animal and dragged the others out into the previous room where they recovered.

"That mist must've contained a halucinogen or something," speculated Uryu when he'd recovered.

"No, your minds were attacked directly," I said. "I've got training to defend against that sort of thing, and Sloth and Kon have their own psychic defenses."

"Kon?" asked Ichigo.

"I am a mod soul," replied Kon. "The Soul Society created me to fight hollows. Hollows have all sorts of powers, so of course they'd make me immune to as much as possible."

We took a left turn and then a right in an attempt ot bypass the trapped room. Proceeding forward, Renji was nearly caught by a collapsing floor. Uryu took a notepad from Kon's pouch, sketched our route so far, and saw a pattern to the traps. Following Uryu's directions, we didn't encounter anymore traps, but we did end up back in the room we started in.

To verify this was the same room and not a coy that'd been touched up with the yarn tied to the post and my mark on the floor, Ichigo pulled on the yarn, dragging Kon back along our route until he ended up back in the room with us.

"Okay. So far, so good," I said.

"How do you figure that?" asked Renji irritably. "They've got us trapped like rats in a maze, we're no closer to finding our way out, and even the voices have stopped."

"Now that the maze looped, we know the general scale," I said. "Uryu found a pattern to the traps, and I left marks all along our path. The next step is to mark all the safe rooms, noting how they connect, and then we can just walk out with a completed map."

Unfortunately, my enthusiasm was a bit premature. After checking every permutation on every room along our previously traveled path, we marked only three additional rooms, and Uryu's theory on the pattern of the traps was debunked, with us encountering traps in rooms that should have been clear, and finding previously trapped rooms safe when accessed via a slightly different route.

"For such a simple maze, this is getting really frustrating," said Sloth. "It's just a three by three grid with the edges being the only part doing anything interesting to form a sealed space without just looping straight to the opposite side. The way out has to have something to do with their moving trap rooms."

"It does," said Uryu, looking up from his notepad. "I think I've figured it out. Everyone gather round."

"Don't say it out loud," came Sloth's telepathic communication. "I can link our minds together so we can just think to each other so they can't overhear."

"You're inside my head?" thought Renji.

"For all the good your head's been in all this," thought Ichigo.

"What'd you say?" thought Renji.

"I didn't say a word," thought Ichigo with a smirk.

"I can cut you both out of hte connection if you don't behave," threatened Sloth.

"Anyway," came Uryu's mental voice, "I think the maze really is as simple as it looks. The traps only ever appear on the edges of the three by three grid, and only after we've moved two spaces in a straight line. The traps are to block us from just proceeding on and connecting three spaces and reaching the exit. If we just proceed past a trapped room, we'll get out."

"Coudl it be that simple?" asked Ichigo.

"I'm willing to try," replied Uryu. "I need one tiny thing though. Can I borrow one of yoru combat passes?"

"Sure, but what do you need it for?" asked Ichigo, handing his over immediately.

"It's just in case," replied Uryu. Then he took off at a run straight ahead. The rest of us followed a step behind. In the trap room, Uryu had successfully predicted, the floor gave out like it had for Renji. Uryu kept running, revealing the missing floor to be an illusion. Then the maze melted away and our party found itself back at the museum's entrance.

"How'd you figure it out?" asked Ririn cheerfully from her perch on top of the skull of the tyrannosaurus skeleton.

Uryu explained the process while I cast the anti-disapparition jinx wordlessly and wandlessly over the area like we'd planned. Sloth, Ichigo, and Renji were scanning the area for the other two kidnappers. Uryu concluded his explanation with a demand.

"Now hand over Chad and Orihime."

"The game's not over until you catch us," giggled Ririn.

The masked kidnapper appeared behind Uryu and grabbed him. Apparition defenses had been a long shot anyway. They couldn't block phoenixes, portkeys, or house elves, so the odds weren't great with an unknown teleportation mechanism. Still, I had to try. Fortunately, Uryu had a plan.

"That's where you're wrong," Uryu said to Ririn and pressed Ichigo's badge to the kidnapper holding him. He immediately coughed up a round green pill. "I knew it. You are mod souls."

"How did you know?" asked Ririn, with all laughter drained from her voice, and a hint of fear replacing it.

As Uryu explained how he'd learned the characteristics of a mod soul's spiritual pressure from carrying Kon around, Sloth picked up the mod soul pill and I shifted my combat pass to my right palm to use as a weapon like Uryu just had.

"Let's talk hostage exchange," said Sloth, holding up the closed fist containing the pill. "You release your two hostages and we'll release our two hostages."

"Two?" asked Ririn.

"The one with the ability to manipulate space isn't able to use his powers without a body," said Uryu. "That means you can't just disappear on us either."

"I can't give your friends back without Noba," said Ririn. "He makes the portals to where we've been keeping them."

"She's got a point," I said as I retrieved my wand.

"We can't just put him back in his gigai," argued Renji. "They'll just teleport off and we'll be back to square one."

"There's a way to get a guarantee," I said, tossing Zangetsu and Sabemaru back ot Ichigo and Renji. "Sloth, if Ririn hasn't come down off that skeleton by the time I get back over to you guys, crush Noba's pill. We'll find another way to get them back."

"Can do," said Sloth, squeezing her fist visibly tighter. Ririn hopped down wearing a petulant pout.

As I unlocked, unstuck, and returned Tsumi no Rensa to my belt, I explained, "Ririn and Ichigo will clasp hands. She'll promise to return Chad and Orihime unharmed and Ichigo will promise the same for Noba. I'll seal it as an unbreakable vow so if either of them break the promise, they die."

Ichigo didn't hesitate, roughly grabbing Ririn's hand and staring her down. I touched the top of my wand to their clasped hands as they made their promises. A ring of fire came from my wand and encircled their hands for each oath spoken, until the binding was complete. Once the unbreakable vow was sealed, Sloth put Noba back in his gigai. He and Ririn vanished and appeared outside. Chad and Orihime were there. So was the gate filled with crimson light they'd used to kidnap them in the first place.

"You won the game fair and square, so we're giving you your friends back," said Ririn, laughter and confidence having returned to her voice.

"That's very sporting of you," said my homunculus self. Still invisible, he lifted Ririn off the ground by her throat. "Next we can talk about you never fucking with us again."

"I don't really have time to stay and chat," said Ririn with a wicked smirk. Somehow, she slipped out of my grip and disappeared into the gate with Noba. "I have to get ready for the next game. It's morning and all good students should be in their classes... or our friends might start to disappear."

"You couldn't have made her promise no more of these stupid games?" asked Renji as we took off at a run for the school.

"I didn't hear you suggesting it at the time," Ichigo shot back.

I removed the disillusionment charm on my homunculus body, remerged with it, put away the Mad Eye, and regenerated my organic eye as we ran.

"Chad and Orihime check out," thought Sloth to the rest of us as we ran. "It doesn't look like they were mistreated while they were held, and I don't see any signs of memory tampering."

"We'd better get the two of you up to date," said Uryu. "The people who kidnapped you are mod souls. The one in the mask is named Noba. He has the ability to manipulate space, teleporting and opening portals The one with the two toned hair is Kurodo and he's a shape shifter. The girl, Ririn, seems to be their leader. She has the ability to cast illusions."

"The illusions come in two types," I added. "Some of them are like holograms anyone can see. The other kind are nastier where she gets inside your head and spoofs your senses so you see, hear, and feel things no one else does. Sloth, Kon, and I are immune to the later, but not the former.

* * *

When we arrived at the school, Ichigo;s body and Renji's gigai were slumped against each other out front. Something was wrong. Ichigo'd left his body with Urahara for safe keeping. Them giving us the runaround was one thing, but Kiske, Yoruichi, and Tessai were all former soul reaper captains, operating on their home territory, already alerted to the enemy. If they were capable of that break in casually, they were on a threat level well beyond Aizen, who'd orchestrated an elaborate conspiracy and murdered the ruling body of the Soul Society as part of a plan to attempt to steal something from Urahara. Someone that capable wouldn't have been caught and forced into an unbreakable vow.

While I pondered that, Ririn and Noba appeared on the school roof. Ririn was holding a cutesy clock. It was five past eight.

"Now that you've finally arrived, it's time for me to explain t he rules of the next game," chirped Ririn cheerfully.

"I'm really getting sick of this," said Ichigo.

"Now that's not a polite way to greet someone," chided Ririn. "Especially one who came all the way to help. I just thought you might like to know that one of you has been replaced with an imposter."

"No one let on," came Sloth's voice over our psychic link. "It's Chad. They must've grabbed him while we were running."

"How do you know?" asked Uryu silently.

"I checked everyone before we left the museum," replied Sloth. "I can't read mod soul minds. Chad's the only person coming up blank for me."

"What do we do?" asked Orihime over our link.

"Pretend we haven't figured it out for now," I thought. "Keeping up the act will limit his options and mobility. If we accuse him now, they'll just teleport him to safety. Play along and we might be able to jump him when he's alone."

"I suggest you find the imposter quickly," said Ririn, hopping down from the roof. "If you don't find it soon, your friends at school will all disappear. You'd better not waste any more time, because the game has already begun.

"Now, I'll explain the rules for you. It's a little after eight so you've got less than four hours before the clock strikes noon. If you guess who it is before time runs out, you win the game, but if twelve o'clock comes and you guess wrong, then everyone in the whole school is going to disappear."

"What do you mean 'disappear'?" asked Uryu concerned.

"You know. Poof," said Ririn. "As in to vanish or no longer exist. They'll evaporate into thin air. Your friends will be gone and you'll never see them again. Oh, and you only get one guess. Let me know when you've decided."

Ririn and Noba hopped over a two story tall fence and vanished. A moment later, other students started showing up. Tatski greeted Orihime, clearly aware of who she was and showing no signs she remembered the disturbing conversation we'd had the other day. They'd tampered with her memory again.

Kurodo masquerading as Chad, suggested we head to class to minimize suspicion while we figured this out. As none of us were in our school uniforms, we headed to the locker room to change. Alone in the boys' locker room, I pressed my combat pass to Kurodo and caught the pill he coughed up. The gigai shifted from Chad's appearance back to Kurodo's default form without the mod soul inside to maintain the transformation.

"What now?" asked Uryu. "Another hostage exchange?"

"No," I said. "If we do that, they'll just kidnap someone else. We need to end this."

"Okay, but how?" asked Ichigo.

"Put Kon in his gigai," I instructed. "They're both mod souls so his spiritual pressure shouldn't tip them off that their imposter has become our imposter."

"One problem," said Kon when he was in Kurodo's gigai. "My mod soul ability is enhanced leg strength, not shape shifting. How am I supposed to turn into Chad?"

I drew my wand and pointed at him. Human transfiguration was NEWT level magic. I wouldn't have even considered it if Sloth and I hadn't done that time looped training session, but since we did, I was able to approximate Chad's features without too much trouble.

"Just remember," said Ichigo. "Chad's calm and quiet, not loud and annoying. Act the opposite of how you usually do and you'll be fine."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" exclaimed Kon.

"It means not that," snapped Ichigo.

"Look, Kon, it won't be for long," I said. "Take my combat pass and this one use portkey to Urahara's shop. We'll pretend to struggle for a couple hours them we'll point to you and win their game."

"Then, with my superior speed, I take both of those clowns out before they realize I'm not their partner," said Kon.

* * *

Kon wasn't much of an actor, but Chad's role didn't require much beyond not talking and sitting still. Sloth, Orihime, and Renji were filled in on the plan telepathically during class. While we pretended to play their game, we remained in telepathic conference discussing alternative angles if the plan with Kon failed.

"You should call Urahara's shop to ask about your body," suggested Uryu.

"That's a good idea," affirmed Sloth. "That way, we can make sure they're okay."

"I've been trying to get in touch with the Soul Society to see if they have any information about these mod souls, but I haven't been able to get through to anyone," thought Renji.

"Is that normal?" asked Orihime.

"No," replied Renji. "Not being able to reach one number would be one thing, but every channel of communication seems to be cut off. Something's wrong."

"We'll add that to the list of things we'll interrogate the mod souls about when this is over," I thought.

When the bell rang for the next class, our group lingered until the room was empty. Ichigo opened the window and called out, "Ririn! Noba! I'm ready to choose!"

"Well, that was a lot faster than I expected," said Ririn appearing in the room. "Remember, you only get one guess. If you're wrong, all your classmates are going to die."

"We know exactly who the imposter is," said Uryu.

"You replaced Chad," I said, pointing accusingly at Kon. As I did so, I cast a wordless, wandless finite incantum to dispel my transfiguration and allow the gigai to return to normal.

"Now, give us the real Chad back!" demanded Orihime.

"I'm done with threats," said Sloth. A yo-yo appeared in her hand and she launched it at Kon's face with enough force to take his head off. Before it could strike, Kon and Ririn vanished, appearing outside perched on a fence with Noba.

Ririn's triumphant giggle was cut short as Kon's surprise attack struck. Her pill had barely left her mouth when Kon reversed his momentum and pressed my substitute soul reaper badge to Noba before he had time to realize what had happened. With his free hand, Kon caught both pills and held them up triumphantly, letting their gigais drop unceremoniously to the ground.

"And it's Kon for the win!" cheered Kon. Looking at the pills in his hand, he declared, "You give mod souls a bad name!"

Our group headed outside and Kon hopped down from his perch. I dropped my two old, faded invisibility cloaks over the discarded gigais.

"Let's get these to Urahara's shop," I said. "Gigais are individually crafted. The Soul Society was able to work out that Urahara made Rukia's. Kiske should be able to tell us who made these."

"What about Chad?" asked Orihime.

"We can put one of them into a stuffed animal and make them tell us where they took him," said Ichigo.

"Our powers are a lot weaker in a stuffed animal then they are in a body or a gigai," added Kon, nodding.

"It's sort of a long shot, but let me try something," I said, pointing my wand at Kon. "Imperio!"

"Okay," said Kon, blinking. "What was that supposed to do?"

"Verify that the same defense that keeps us from reading your mind also blocks attempts to control it," I said. "If it'd worked, you'd be doing a back flip now, and I'd be able to just make Noba give us back Chad."

* * *

Ichigo, Kon, Orihime, Uryu, and Renji got their first experience of traveling by portkey. Carrying two seemingly human corpses through the streets, even with partly effective invisibility cloaks draped over them was just asking for trouble. The seven of us plopped down in front of Urahara's shop.

Stumbling to his feet and shaking off the dizziness from the trip, Renji said, "Why do our teleport methods have to suck so much? They didn't fall on their asses when they were popping around everywhere."

"Shut up, Renji," said Ichigo, exasperated. "Let's just go inside and see what Kiske can do."

The front part of the shop was empty, so we proceeded toward the back. When Ichigo opened the door, Orihime screamed. Draped over the table, with blood dripping onto the floor was Kiske Urahara's decapitated body. There was a note laid on his chest.

"Release my mod souls, or the same will happen to your friend," read Ichigo aloud.

Sloth held her Soul Gem over Urahara's body. It glowed briefly, and nothing happened. "Why didn't it work?" asked Sloth.

"Because he's not dead," I said. "This is just his gigai. The bodies of soul reapers who are killed fade away like slain hollows. It's a little slower with soul reapers, but he wouldn't have left a corpse like this."

"Which means whoever's behind all this now has two hostages," noted Uryu.

"We could call his bluff," said Sloth. "If Chad dies, I can revive him here."

"I don't think we can take that risk," said Uryu. "They realized when we beat their mod souls right away. It's safe to say they have some way of observing us undetected. And if they heard what you just said, they might switch from killing Chad outright to torture."

"Damnit," said Ichigo, removing Kon from Kurodo's gigai and stuffing Kurodo's pill down the gigai's throat. Then, he slammed the mod soul against a wall and yelled, "This isn't funny anymore! Tell me what this is all about!"

"I'm afraid there's one last game for you to play first. Winner take all," said Kurodo. Then he shape shifted into Noba and he, the pills of his companions, and their gigais vanished.

"So, he has the ability to copy the abilities of the people he turns into as well," noted Uryu.

"What do you figure this last game of theirs is?" asked Renji.

"Whatever it is, we're going to win it," affirmed Ichigo.

"Repairo," I said, restoring Kiske's damaged gigai. Then I waved my wand again and made the blood disappear with, "Evanesco!" After I put my wand back in its holster, I clapped my hands. A faint blue light suffused the room as transmuted air gave off alchemic light. A humanoid outline was visible, the air displaced by its hidden body not able to respond to my alchemy. The distinct sound of a soul reaper's flash step accompanied the concealed figure making its escape.

"How did you know he was there?" asked Orihime.

"That's a good question," said Uryu. "I didn't sense a thing."

"I didn't expect there to be a person," I said. "I was thinking there might be an invisible camera to outline or something."

"That was flash step he used to run away," said Renji. "That was no mod soul. It was a soul reaper."

"We did originally suspect a soul reaper was behind this," reminded Uryu. "Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Soske Aizen were our prime suspects."

"Mayuri wouldn't need to be here or send someone to watch us," said Sloth. "My reigai is packed with sensors and surveillance equipment transmitting to the twelfth division."

"Aizen's zanpakto is an illusion type, and he's faked people's deaths using corpse dolls before," noted Renji.

"Aizen wouldn't have had any reason to run away from us," argued Ichigo. "He blocked my bankai with one finger. None of us is a threat to him."

"Whoever that was, we've at least got some privacy to prepare while we wait for them to announce this final game of theirs," I said.

"But how do we prepare if we don't know what the game is?" asked Orihime.

"Like this," I said, digging through the stock of soul reaper merchandise behind the counter and handing everyone a soul expelling glove.

* * *

I split into my soul reaper and homunculus halves to speed up my preparation efforts. While soul reaper me laid shield charms on some left gloves to compliment the soul expelling right gloves, homunculus me took Sloth aside to attend to something a little more technical.

"We're still a ways from being bale to make you a homunculus again, but I think I can give you some of your old powers back," I said.

"How?" she asked.

I shifted my black vest and turned my back to show off the transmutation circle tattooed on my shoulder blade. "I can use it to heal, generate the Ultimate Shield, and use your Ultimate Escape."

"You can do that because you're a homunculus," said Sloth. "Normal alchemists can't transmute their own bodies."

"There's a reason normal alchemists can't do that," I said with a smirk. On seeing it, Sloth smiled eagerly and listened as I continued. "Humans can't transmute their bodies because autonomic systems get in the way. Shutting down those systems will kill a human, but a homunculus can survive just fine without any of their body's autonomic processes running."

"You think I can survive shutting down my autonomic systems?" said Sloth.

"You walk. You talk. You eat. You breathe. But none of that is through normal biological processes. Your Soul Gem keeps everything running, even in the face of severe damage. Remember when I stabbed you through the heart in training?"

"I healed that," she said.

"And you didn't miss a beat doing it," I said. "I'm pretty sure I can sever a few key nerve clusters to make it possible for you to transmute your body, and your Soul Gem will paper over the damage even if you don't heal it."

Sloth looked at me, nodded, and said, "I trust you, Greed."

"She said yes," I told my soul reaper self as he finished handing out shield gloves.

Soul reaper me clapped and touched Sloth's forehead. A few blue sparks flew from the point of contact. Sloth blinked, opened and closed her hands experimentally, then nodded.

"Heart's still beating. I'm still breathing. My body feels normal," reported Sloth. Then she clapped and covered her body with the Ultimate Shield. Still covered in the diamond hard armor, she leapt into the arms of homunculus me, who happened to be closest, and nuzzled my neck as this form didn't have lips. I returned Sloth's embrace.

"We got a few more of her powers working," said soul reaper me to the others by way of explanation.

* * *

Author's comments:  
This game is sort of a microcosm of the larger Bleach plot. You have a super genius or two railroading everyone less intelligent or less informed than them along a path, correcting for any hiccups in their plan as they go.


	17. Chapter 18: The Game Comes to an End

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 18) The Game Comes To An End  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

I left a couple more gold bricks on the counter as payment for the gloves when we walked our of Urahara's shop. Sloth kept up a telepathic link between us for easy friend or foe identification in case the mod souls tried to replace one of us again. Kon was returned to his stuffed animal backpack body since Sloth's telepathy couldn't include him, making fighting alongside the mod soul too dangerous given the enemy's capabilities.

I'd been using the Mad Eye only intermittently during this ordeal. That was changing. The magical device allowed me to see through even powerful invisibility enchantments and solid matter. It also had the ability to rotate independently in my eye socket, letting me look in two directions at once and even through the back of my own head. Hopefully, it'd be of use against Ririn's illusions and the invisible soul reaper.

As a group, we made another sweep of Karakura town, looking for some trace of Chad on the faint hope that whoever was behind this was based locally. We ended up on the bank of the river that ran through town as the sun set. No one had tried to call me or Renji.

When the sun had fully set, and we all sat racking our brains to come up with something more we could do, a set of fireworks went off and a note fluttered down to us. It read, "You have 30 minutes to destroy the gate."

At that moment, a massive structure descended from the clouds. It looked like the gate they'd used to abduct Chad and Orihime, but scaled up so it loomed over even the tallest buildings in town. Ichigo left his body on the river bank and our group rushed to the base of the massive gate.

"The gate's invisible to normal humans. I can only see it with the Mad Eye. It doesn't seem to have any internal structure. Best guess is it's one of Ririn's illusions."

"If it isn't, can you take it out?" asked Ichigo.

"Not safely," reported my soul reaper self. "Flame alchemy didn't seem to have any effect on the gate that took Chad. Even if it did, an explosion big enough to take out a structure that size would end up firebombing the whole town."

"There's also the fragments to consider," added Sloth. "We have to assume any chunks we take out of the thing will fall down and crush whatever's below it. The main structure's hovering for now, but once we damage it?"

"Of course, we have to weight those concerns against what they intend to do with that gate," added Renji.

When we arrived, Ririn, Noba, and Kurodo were seated on the base of the gate and Ririn started taunting us.

"Ririn, Noba, and Kurodo are illusions," homunculus me thought to the others. "I'll try to find the real ones while you guys play the game."

We didn't have much time to come up with a strategy. The gate opened and began sucking things in with incredible force. Everyone in our group tried to grab hold of something, but the force of the wind uprooted trees, lifted cars off the ground, and ripped the concrete block my shoes let me stick to off the sidewalk. As we tumbled through the air toward the gate, soul reaper me gripped my zanpakto and called out, "Reducto!" The blasting hex did nothing to the gate.

Ichigo gripped his zanpakto in both hands. His spirit energy swirled and manifested visibly around him as swirling blue light. "BAn-" he yelled, then his spirit energy faded back to normal. He looked confused and worried. I hadn't gotten around to telling him about his badge acting as a power limiter while we were dealing with the kidnappings, and now it was interfering with his ability to use his bankai.

There was no time to try anything else. We were all swallowed up by the gate. Passing through, both mes fell unconscious, as though hit with a stunning hex. When we came to, we were in an arid, mist filled area. The mist interfered with my organic eyes, but the Mad Eye cut through it without any difficulty. We were in Urahara's underground training area.

We found one another quickly. Notably, none of the cars, trees, or other debris that'd been picked up with us was here. Ririn, Noba, and Kurodo made their presence known. They were standing in front of a post they'd tied Chad to. Sloth verified it was really Chad, and I looked through the flesh of all four, verifying bones, organs, and other details that weren't present in Ririn's holograms. I could see all three mod soul pills in our opponents.

"Since you did so well, we're going to give you a bonus round," thrilled Ririn. A massive hourglass fell from above out of one of Noba's portals, enclosing Chad in the lower portion as sand began to fall on his head. "You have five minutes to find a way to save our friend, or-"

"Reducto!" yelled my soul reaper self, and a blast of concussive force from the top of my zanpakto shattered the top half of teh hourglass, causing sand and broken glass to fall around the still intact lower half.

"Well, that was anticlimactic," noted Kurodo.

"Let's get Chad loose," declared Ichigo, charging in with his enormous zanpakto in his hands. "Uryu, protect Orihime!"

"Right," said Uryu, hanging back while the rest of us charged.

"Roar, Sabemaru!" called out Renji, relesing his zanpakto into its extendible form as he charged.

"Bind, Tsumi no Rensa," called out soul reaper me to transform the sword into a length of chain, which I twirled over my head to build momentum.

Noba and Kurodo counter charged. Kurodo turned into Ichigo as he reached us. Ichigo and Renji teamed up on Kurodo while Sloth and Homunculus me rushed past toward Ririn. Soul reaper me focused on Noba. Sloth's yo-yo and my Ultimate Spear would have both hit Ririn, but Noba opened a portal to redirect the attacks, causing us both to be hit with our own attack.

Blocking for Ririn left Noba open, and my soul reaper self pressed the substitute badge in my left hand to Noba, expelling his pill. In response, Ririn called up a tactile and auditory illusion of wind to buffet us and get us off balance. The Mad Eye only helped with visual illusions, so both mes were stumbling.

"There is no wind," growled Sloth, planting her feet in a wide, stable stance and throwing a yo-yo at Ririn. Crimson flames sprayed from the gap between the disks, forming a facsimile of a circular saw blade. By deliberately not compensating for the wind, Sloth's aim was dead on, and Ririn was decapitated.

"We'll deal with that imposter together," said Renji to one of the Ichigos, staring down the other.

"Renji, you idiot, he's the imposter!" yelled the Ichigo now forced to divide his attention between two opponents.

"You think I can't tell the difference?" said Renji as he set his right hand on the shoulder of the Ichigo he was backing up. The soul expelling glove did its job and the false Ichigo coughed up his mod soul pill and Kurodo's gigai reverted to its normal appearance.

"You obviously can't tell the difference," teased Ichigo with a smirk.

"I said that to get inside his guard!" yelled Renji defensively.

While they argued, Sloth and my homunculus self destroyed the rest of the hourglass and untied Chad. Soul reaper me retrieved the three mod soul pills. We all confirmed Chad was all right.

Then Ichigo called out, "Okay, Urahara. You can come out now."

"How'd you know?" asked Urahara, stepping out from behind the post Chad had been tied to. My soul reaper self had detected his spirit energy a moment after Ichigo called out to him, but it was at a distance. He'd used a perfectly silent flash step to give the illusion that he'd been hiding back there the entire time.

"You overdid it with the decapitated gigai," said Ichigo.

"Speaking of which, Greed, would you mind fixing Ririn's gigai?" said Urahara casually.

"Only if you explain what's been going on," I said, sealing my zanpakto back into sword form and sheathing it. Once I merged back together with my homunculus self, I took out my wand and set to work as Kiske explained.

"I have found that certain games can be very useful for training purposes. They can improve a number of disciplines, including stamina, intellect, team work, making quick judgements, and coping with adversity. They even strengthen the bond between friends. Perhaps the most important of all, they provide a chance for you to each take a good look at yourself."

"Do you really think we need that?" asked Ichigo skeptically.

"Yeah," said Kiske. "For instance, your bankai doesn't work, does it?"

"I've been meaning to mention," I said. "Your combat pass has a power limiter built into it."

"You found out about that, huh?" said Renji.

"You knew?" demanded Ichigo angrily.

"The Soul Society puts their captains and lieutenants under limiters," I said. "After you fought on par with Kenpachi and beat Byakuya, it only makes sense that they'd apply the same limiters to us."

"No doubt that's a contributing factor," said Kiske. "There's also the fact that the Soul Society is saturated with high quality reshi, and that increases the powers of spiritual beings, an advantage you don't have now that you've returned home. Regardless, you mustn't think that every time things get tough, all you have to do is use your bankai. Try to remember, it's not that easy.

"That aside, did you know that Yoruichi was here conducting an investigation? I don't know all the details, but an unexplained phenomenon has everyone concerned."

"What sort of phenomenon?" asked Uryu.

"So far, all I know is that it was serious enough to justify the Soul Society closing the passage to the world of the living," replied Urahara.

"That's why Renji's been unable to contact anyone back in the Soul Society," I said. "The soul phones' signals transmit through the same senkaimon that souls pass through. Why didn't they send out a notice to Renji when it happened?"

"Why would they have?" asked Renji.

I blinked. "Why would a military high command send out notices to its troops of a planned communication blackout?"

"The twelfth division handles communications," said Renji as confused by my statements as I was of his. "I'm with the sixth division. We aren't in the same chain of command."

"The Thirteen Court Guard Squads really aren't the kind of military we're used to," concluded Sloth.

Getting back on track, Renji said to Kiske, "This is about the Aizen incident, isn't it?"

"Doubt it," said Kiske. "Based on Kaien's inside information, the hogyoku in Aizen's possession is incomplete. With mine safely hidden away, he'll have no choice but to continue work on his if he wants to utilize its full power. He probably won't surface or make a move for a while, which is good, because right now, you're too weak to counter him. But Ichigo..."

"What is it?" asked Ichigo.

"Soon enough, the issue of the hogyoku will return, and we will not be able to deal with it without your bankai. Will you try to learn to use it again? I'm asking you to do this for me."

After a pause, Ichigo agreed. "All right. I'll do it."

"An excellent decision. Thank you so much," said Urahara.

"Why was that even a question?" I asked. "Is there some reason you wouldn't want more power?"

"I think I'm starting to see why you're named Greed," noted Uryu.

"All right, Ichigo, why don't we get right to it and start cultivating your situation analysis and critical judgement skills," said Kiske. "Ichigo, you really need to use your head more. You let your opponents take advantage of you far too often. Ironically, that kind of critical thinking is one of Uryu's biggest strengths, and he doesn't even have any powers anymore. It's true, right Uryu?"

"Yes," said Uryu. "I lost my quincy powers while fighting in the Soul Society."

"Why the hell didn't you tell us?" demanded Ichigo.

"All those times you didn't use your powers were because you couldn't?" snapped Renji.

"Is this really true, Uryu?" asked Orihime concerned.

"You friggen idiot," declared Ichigo.

"What'd you say?" replied Uryu hotly.

Ichigo didn't back down. "By doing that you put every one of us in danger. I'm not trying to say that you endangered us by not having any powers. Fighting as a team, we all have different things to contribute, and you were a huge help in the Soul Society, but if you lost your powers, that isn't something you should've kept secret from the rest of us. We would have been a stronger team if we had known. Hey, you have to trust your friends enough to tell them the truth. You know that."

"Besides, if you'd said something sooner, I'd have been able to tell you that's bullshit," I said. "You've obviously still got powers, or you wouldn't have been able to see or hear Ichigo lecturing you just now while he's in soul reaper form. During Ririn's game, you outperformed the best athletes on earth and barely broke a sweat as we ran between telephones. You've obviously still got spirit energy, even if you can't form a bow anymore."

"Me or Orihime might be able to heal you," offered Sloth.

"I appreciate the offer," said Uryu, "but what happened to me isn't an injury."

Before Uryu could elaborate further, Yoruichi leapt down the ladder in her human form and rushed up to us, saying, "Kiske, I have something to tell you. The intruder is a bount."

* * *

I returned the mod souls to their gigais and everyone headed upstairs to discuss Yoruichi's investigation. Noba teleported Ichigo's body to the shop from where he'd left it, and Ririn assured us that no damage had actually been done to the city when they'd pulled us through their gate. Tessai, Ururu and Jinto were already gathered around the table when we arrived. There was a meal and place settings for all of us. After three days of panicked running around, sitting down for a proper meal was very welcome.

Urahara opened the explanations by giving us a summary of what little was known about the bounts as a whole. The bouts were a tribe of humans with spiritual powers. They had a very low population, to the point that Kiske had never personally encountered one. What made them unique was their ability to live forever by devouring the souls of the dead.

Yoruichi described her confrontation with the bount in question earlier that day. The bount was a woman with long, brown hair. The only distinguishable aspect of her appearance was that she wore a silver finger gauntlet on the middle finger of one hand. According to Yoruichi, the bount sang a hypnotizing melody that drew a living human to her and attempted to suck out his soul. Yoruichi intervened and saved the human, and the bount fled.

"She outran you?" I asked, skeptically. Yoruichi was the foremost expert in the high speed movement technique shunpo, or flash step. My ability with shunpo was enough to finish a hundred meter dash in the blink of an eye, and Yoruichi made me look like the amateur I was.

"It isn't something she managed on pure speed," explained Yoruichi. "The bount had the ability to mask her spiritual pressure. I paused to make sure her victim was going to be all right, she managed to get out of sight, and I lost her. I might've been able to find her with a concerted search, but that would risk being drawn into a trap, and it was important I report what I found."

Kiske went on to explain the fate of souls consumed by a bount. Unlike quincies who destroy souls utterly, or hollows who take devoured souls into themselves continuously amassing more until they are slain and the souls are released to move on, bounts merely digest the spiritual matter of the soul, destroying the identity of the person it was, but not interfering with the reincarnation cycle. They were murderous cannibals, but they weren't a threat to the balance, so the Soul Society could afford to ignore them. It wasn't precisely that they took what the bounts did lightly, but they'd never been forced to make them a priority like they had the quincies or the hollows.

While it was useful to know the big picture, the small picture was that a soul eating monster that could blend in with a crowd and that neither our spiritual awareness nor our soul phones could detect was stalking people in Karakura town. None of us were prepared to ignore that. Based on the tendency of hollows to preffer devouring souls with high spirit energy, Kiske noted that Ichigo, Chad, and Orihime needed extra protection and backup, so he assigned Ririn, Noba, and Kurodo to them respectively. Both Chad and Orihime lived alone, and Ichigo was the only member of his household able to fight a threat like this. Sloth and I loved together and could back one another up, and Renji was staying at the shop with Kiske, Tessai, and Yoruichi.

"Wait, where does that leave me?" asked Uryu.

"Well, as I was trying to explain-" started Kiske before being interrupted by Ririn.

"You don't have any powers anymore!" she said, bluntly.

"You were in a pill at the time, but Greed just explained he does still have powers," said Sloth.

"I think it'd help if you went through the techniques you know one at a time to figure out what you can and can't do," I suggested. "If what you've lost is just those powers unique to quincies like your bow, some of your training could still be useful."

"Given our theory that the enemy will be targeting us based on our spirit energy, the first thing to try would be..."

Uryu focused and his presence dimmed. I couldn't detect any spiritual pressure from him at all.

"That has to be a technique you can teach," I said. "Being able to hide our spiritual pressure would be so useful."

"It's not exactly the sort of thing you can pick up in an afternoon," said Uryu dryly. "Maybe we'll have time after we've dealt with this bount."

From there, the conversation turned back to the mod souls. They weren't happy when Kiske suggested they be placed in stuffed animals like Kon instead of their gigais so they could stay close to their charges at all times without raising suspicions. Kiske revealed that he'd created the three of them recently, rather than them having been rescues from Project Spearhead like Kon. Each of the new mod souls contained sensors that would hopefully allow them to detect the bount where we could not.

"Could you install those upgrades into Kon?" I asked.

"I don't see why not," said Kiske.

"I'd really like to observe the process," I said. "There wasn't any mod soul data in the library I went through in the Soul Society."

"No, there wouldn't have been," said Urahara. "When Central 46 scrapped the Spearhead project, they ordered all the data relating to it destroyed. These three are the result of my having read some of the earlier theoretical notes from my time as captain of the twelfth division before the Spearhead project really got started and what I've been able to learn from studying Kon."

Urahara retrieved a device the size of a brief case that opened to reveal a number of controls and readouts surrounding a glass tube filled with liquid reshi. He inserted Kon's pill into the tube and adjusted the dials. The tube glowed faintly while Kiske worked. After perhaps five minutes of work, he finished and returned Kon to his stuffed lion body.

Before I left for home, I placed an order for one of those devices. It would take a while to procure one, but it contained all the necessary equipment to create soul candies and mod souls and to modify existing ones. Neither could be made in bulk with the small device, but it would do fine for the experimental purposes I had in mind.

* * *

"I'm so sorry I haven't been here, boy," I said, greeting my overexcited dog when Sloth and I arrived home at my underground lab. The automatons had fed him and cleaned up after him, but their minds had been made deliberately simple, so there wasn't much in terms of company or affection you could expect out of them.

"He knows you'd never abandon him," said Sloth, wrapping her arms around Loki's neck and giving him a hug.

"I wish there was some way I could give him spirit energy," I said. "He can't even see me in soul reaper form, much less a hollow."

"He should be able to see and fight a bount just fine," noted Sloth. "We won't have to leave him behind when we go hunting for her."

"And for later," I said, taking the Mad Eye out of my socket and regenerating my organic one, "maybe something like this. He wouldn't need all the options like Moody had, but just an eye that let him see spirits would make him less helpless against normal hollows."

"Speaking of fancy enchantments," said Sloth, "you made your wand based on what you learned about the Elder Wand. You are planning on making our new invisibility cloaks the equal of Harry's, right?"

"It's the only reasonable thing to do," I said with a smirk. "When you're immortal you'll want your stuff built to last."

"We don't have to get started on it now, do we?" asked Sloth, plopping down on the couch.

"Of course not," I said, sitting down beside her and putting an arm around her. "We can take our time, relax, catch our breath, even time turn ourselves a vacation if we want."

"That last one might be a bit much," said Sloth. "I just want to spend the rest of the evening letting my brain cool down."

"I had the episodes of Spirit Hunter that aired while I was in the Soul Society recorded," I suggested. "That's pretty mindless."

"That sounds good," said Sloth. "Let me go slip into my normal body."

"I'll make popcorn," I said.

While I made a large bowl of popcorn, Sloth separated her reigai from her high school body, put both into storage, and returned in a body that reflected her usual four year old form. I dropped my soul phone and substitute badge on the table as I sat back down. If something else went wrong, we'd get an alert.

Curled up together, we watched the show. Don Kanonji's battles against hollows looked strange when you couldn't see what he was fighting. It was more than an apparent mime act. The cameras could pick up objects picked up by the hollows to use as bludgeons against him, damage the hollows did to surrounding structures, and an occasional siluet when there was mist or dust in the air. Those brief glimpses were more unnerving than most of the fully visible face to face encounters I'd had.

A few episodes into our marathon, the formula switched up. Now, Don Kanonkji was leading a team that included Ururu and Jinta as well as Ichigo's sisters Karin and Yuzu. I'd seen Ururu and Jinta fight before. They outclassed Don Kanonji by a wide margin, but it looked like Karin, at lest, was having no trouble keeping up with them.

The team was together for only one episode before Don Kanonji returned to being a solo act, but it was nice shaking up the pattern a little. We finished my whole tape in one sitting, stretched, got changed, and headed into school more recharged and rested tha we would've been if we spent the time sleeping.

* * *

Author's comments:  
After the stress of Kiske's game, dealing with the bounts will feel like a vacation.


	18. Chapter 19: A Bount Ally

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 19) A Bount Ally  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

At school we found a surprise. Rukia was back,and had restored everyone's memories of her so she could fall back into old role and routine. Apparently, the Soul Society had sent her as additional backup once they realized a bount was involved. She'd met up with Ichigo the previous night and saved him from the bount Ririn had encouraged him to hunt without alerting the rest of us.

Chad and Orihime had gone out together tracking a second bound. Theirs had already killed someone when they found it and had fled the scene quickly. Ichigo had cornered his bount, apparently the same one Yoruichi confronted, and as a result, she had fought back. The finger gauntlet Yoruichi described allowed the bount to summon a guardian creature made of flames to fight for her. Shortly after Rukia arrived to help Ichigo, the make bount that Chad and Orihime'd met showed up, defeated and captured the female bount using nearby objects transformed into snakes, and fled the scene.

Thanks to Sloth's ability to act as a telepathic relay, we were able to swap our information quickly and silently while class was in session. As soon as we were all up to date, I pressed my combat pass to my chest and separated my body and soul. That drew the attention of the students who could see spirits. Soul reaper me strolled to the front of the classroom next to the teacher, Miss Oshi.

"Only a handful of you can see and hear me," I said, speaking over Miss Oshi's lesson, which continued as though there'd been no interruption. "What you're seeing is my soul, expelled from my body. Don't worry. I'm fine. I'm speaking to you this way because the fact that you can see me means you are in danger of being attacked by supernatural creatures drawn to the spirit energy in you that allows you to see spirits."

"What are you doing?" hissed Rukia in a whisper loud enough to draw Miss Oshi's attention.

While Rukia was forced to apologize for interrupting class, I said, "Don't address me out loud. As you can see, it won't help matters. Sloth has telepathic abilities. If you think any question or response clearly enough, she'll retransmit it to everyone taking part in these lessons."

"I have a question," thought Ichigo. "Why are you interrupting our class with this?"

"Did everyone hear Ichigo's question?" I asked. Small nods from Keigo and Tatski verified they had. "First off, take a look at my body. Without me inside, he doesn't have any spirit energy, so he can't see or hear me. Instead, he's taking notes on Miss Oshi's lesson, which all of you will get copies of. As for why I'm explaining this way, it's the only time I can expect to find you all in one place."

"You shouldn't be explaining it at all," thought Rukia.

"Everyone who can hear me is a target, whether for hollows or bounts," I said. "They deserve the best chance they can get to defend themselves."

"You promised to teach Keigo and me how to protect our memories," thought Tatski. "Does this have anything to do with that?"

"That's right, but first I'd like to give you an overview of the basics." I used a low level kido to place a visual barrier on a piece of chalk, hiding it from everyone who couldn't see spirits. On a part of the blackboard Miss Oshi wasn't using, I drew some visual aids. "Every living human has a soul. The soul is connected to the body by what is known as the chain of fate. On death, the chain of fate is severed. Souls that linger in the world of the living gradually undergo a process called encroachment, where the chain of fate erodes from the point it was severed from until it reaches the chest. At that point, the final encroachment takes place and a soul becomes what is called a hollow.

"Individual hollows have few features in common with each other. They all have white masks, and they all have a round hole through their chests. Hollows are compelled by a ravenous hunger to eat the souls of humans, whether living or dead, preferring those souls with high amounts of spirit energy.

"Soul reapers can be recognized by our black uniform called a shihatso and our sword called a zanpakto. Soul reapers use our zanpakto to protect people from hollows. By tapping the forehead of a lingering soul who hasn't become a hollow yet with the hilt of our zanpakto in a ritual called konso, we can send a lingering soul on to a spirit world called the Soul Society where souls don't gradually turn into hollows. By slaying hollows with our zanpakto, we can purify their souls, returning them to normal and sending them on to the Soul Society."

"So if we're being chased by a hollow, we should go find a soul reaper for help?" asked Keigo.

I nodded. "That's right. Myself, Rukia, Ichigo, and Renji, the spikey haired red head with the tattoos on his forehead, are all soul reapers. Ordinarily, soul reapers try to protect people without brudoning them with the knowledge that they're in danger. We have tools and abilities that let us detect and confront hollows before they get the chance to hurt anyone. Lately, however, we've become aware of a new threat: beings called bounts.

"Bounts are living humans with the ability to consume souls. Our normal detection methods for hollows are useless against bounts. We're experimenting with new tools, and hope to deal with the threat soon, but until we do, be aware of the danger you're in."

"You aren't doing them a kindness by revealing all this," thought Rukia.

"Renji said the same thing," I said. "Personally, I've always valued knowledge over ignorance, even when the truth is awful. But I know it isn't fair to impose my values on others, so I'm offering a choice. Rukia has a device that'll instantly and painlessly erase your memory of all this. Alternately, I can put you through a long, painful, extremely unpleasant training that will teach you how to resist psychic intrusions like Rukia's memory device and the bounts' hypnotic song."

"How painful are we talking?" thought Keigo cringing.

"You'll relive your worst memories, face visions of your darkest fears, and have to come face to face with parts of yourself you don't like," I said. "Learning the art of occlumency is so emotionally taxing, that you'll need a week of recovery time between lessons."

"I'm doing it," said Tatski, fire in her eye.

"Yeah, okay," said Keigo unenthusiastically. "If this gets too much, we can stop, right?"

I nodded. "This is also a pretty intimate experience. I'll be reading your minds again and again, teaching you how to resist. It's inevitable that I'll see something private or embarrassing in there."

"You're making the same offer to us too, right?" asked Uryu.

"Of course," I said. "We can begin right away if you're all ready."

I used my time turner to conduct the first round of psychic attacks of their training on Tatski, Keigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Rukia, and Ichigo simultaneously. Seven of me drew wands at once, locked eyes with them, and called out, "Legilimens!"

Tatski and Keigo had lived relatively quiet lives. They had hopes and fears, but no great life defining traumas. They were both left shaken by my legilimency, but that was normal and expected.

Orihime had a lot of traumatic experiences in her life, and she'd responded to them by bottling them up and putting on a brave face. Her brother had taken her away from parents so abusive they would have killed her as an infant. Her brother had died right after a fight. She'd gotten some closure on that, but only because her brother had been driven mad by loneliness and grief and become a hollow that tried to kill her friends.

While Orihime's mind was fragile and easily penetrated, Chad already had a solid foundation of emotional control that forced me to work harder to get in. At one point he'd been an angry, violent young man, but he'd faced that part of himself long ago. There was still guilt from those times, and the fear that he'd backslide, which I prodded hard with my legilimency. Chad was going to be good at this.

Uryu was carrying a lot of guilt. I saw the battle he'd had with Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi, where Uryu had lost his powers. Watching Mayuri abuse and belittle his artificially created daughter during the fight reminded me painfully of Shao Tucker and the things he'd done to Nina and Sloth. I committed every moment of that battle to memory, so I could kill the captain next time we met. For Uryu, that battle had been a twin failure. He'd betrayed his grandfather's trust by using the technique that cost him his powers despite not meeting the conditions his grandfather laid out, and he'd failed to kill the captain even with the extreme power up the technique granted him.

Rukia was old and had really lived every one of her years. She'd developed close friendships and lost people she cared about deeply. She'd experienced teh crushing poverty of the Soul Society's Rukon District and the opulent lifestyle of one of the Seireitei's most prominent noble families. Through it all, she kept on living, never letting her experiences jade her and always keeping herself open to new friendships. Losing people still hurt, and leaving people behind as she rose in status hurt worse.

For Ichigo, protecting people was the very core of his being. The times he wasn't strong enough to keep someone safe left deep scars on his psyche. His mother was killed by a hollow when he was a child. Byakuya taking Rukia away to be executed. Aizen cutting Ichigo nearly in half and then jamming his hand through Rukia's chest.

* * *

At lunch, everyone was quietly eating and trying to regain their equilibrium after the first occlumency lesson. I knew the training would benefit them in the long run, but seeing my friends so mentally and emotionally exhausted and knowing I was the cause wasn't doing great things for my mental and emotional state either. And it was in that state that Ririn, who's pill had been put in a stuffed bird doll, announced that she detected a bount.

Ichigo took off, following her head. Those of us with powers beyond the ability to see spirits rushed to follow. Tatski called after us saying she and Keigo would cover for us. Uryu started to follow, but Ichigo told him to stay behind. As we ran, Ririn informed us this was the male bount from last night she was tracking.

Even running at full speed, we didn't make it in time. The body of the bount's first victim was already crumbling to dust, and a second victim, this one a woman, was hypnotized into passivity and the bount had his mouth dear her throat. Ichigo had ditched his body early in our run, and so was in his soul reaper form, complete with the massive blade of his shikai in hand.

The bount looked up at us, his eyes drawn to Ichigo. He made a great distraction. My wand in hand, I turned on the spot and disapparated, appearing behind the bount and calling out, "Stupefy!" A bolt of red light flew from my wand and struck the bount square in the back. He collapsed unconscious.

"What did you do to him?" asked Ichigo.

"Stunning hex," I said, rummaging through my bag. "He'll be unconscious for a while, but he'll wake up with no real harm."

Orihme applied her healing shield to the unconscious woman while Sloth used her powers to revive the man who's body had crumbled to dust. While they worked, I found what I was looking for. Laying out a small pile of scrap metal on the bount's arms, I cast the spell, "Repairo!"

"When the Soul Society captured us, they used those cuffs to seal our spirit energy," said Chad, recognizing them.

"When Kenpachi cut them off us, I took the pieces with me," I acknowledged. "They seemed like they'd end up being useful one day."

"Now that we've got him, what do we do with him?" asked Uryu, who'd decided to follow despite his power loss and Ichigo's advice.

"We take him back to our place to interrogate him," said Sloth. "I presume none of you have access to dungeons."

"You do?" asked Ichigo.

"We're alchemists," I said. "Our home layout is very modular."

"The other bount is coming," announced Noba, who'd been placed inside a stuffed turtle.

"They were fighting each other last night, but we have no way of knowing what her intentions are this time," said Rukia.

"Which way is she coming from?" asked Uryu. When Noba pointed, Uryu continued. "Take the civilians and hide behind those trucks. Leave the bount where he is. When she shows up, we can ambush her."

We quickly got into position for Uryu's plan. When the bount arrived, she'd already called up her guardian creature made of fire. The instant they caught sight of the male bount, the flaming creature launched a blast of flames at the unconscious and helpless male bount. The attack was intercepted and negated by Orihime's triangular shield.

Rukia called out, "Hado 33: Sokatsui!" and a bolt of lightning launched from her palm at the fire creature. It wasn't enough to kill it, but it did distract the creature enough to let Ichigo flash step in close and sever its arms with his zanpakto. The flame creature easily reassembled itself, but that took precious seconds.

In those seconds, Sloth wrapped a yo-yo string around the female bount's legs and pulled her off her feet. I quickly moved in and stunned the temporarily immobilized bount with a "Stupefy!"

Rendering the bount unconscious hadn't caused the flame creature to vanish like I'd hoped. Chad saw an opening, summoned the armored form of his right arm, and called out, "El Directo!" unleashing an energy blast even stronger than the ones I'd seen him use in the Soul Society. The blast scattered the creature into a swarm of flaming meteorites, which still seemed to be under the control of a guiding intelligence.

"Look out!" called Ichigo as the flaming orbs flew at me like guided missiles.

Sloth clapped her hands andheld her palms out in the direction of the fiery attack and a disc of blue alchemic light interposed itself between us and the flaming pieces of the creature's body. The pieces impacted the wall of alchemically solidified air and ricocheted.

"Repairo!" I said, locking a second set of manacles onto the female bout. The fire creature must have been sustained, at least in part, by the bount's spirit energy, because the instant the manacles were in place, the creature vanished.

* * *

Rukia called Renji while we walked and he met us at the location I'd specified. I stomped my foot and transmuted a ladder down to my lab. Chad and Ichigo carried the unconscious bounts down.

"Wow, it's like your own secret lair," said Orihime.

I smirked and said, "It gets better." Opening a hidden wall with alchemy. I called in a dozen of my automatons, each a hollow suit of armor modeled on Alphonse Elric's and animated by alchemy.

"Why do you have these?" asked Chad.

"They help me with my gardening," I said.

"Your gardening?" asked Renji skeptically.

"The plants that produce the alchemy amplifiers I use are cultivated in an environment that's highly toxic to humans," I said.

"I'll bet you have a garden of carnivorous monster plants you feed your enemies to," guessed Orihime, excited.

"I haven't gotten around to planting any of those yet," I said.

"I can't tell if he's serious," muttered Uryu.

I made two new rooms to hold the interrogations in. Both bounts were stripped and put in grey prison jumpsuits. Most of their things were placed in alchemically sealed storage bins. The woman's finger gauntlet was locked in a separate bin. The man had a pocket watch with the same symbol engraved on it as the finger gauntlet that we also locked up separately.

Both bounts were carrying ID. The male bount was named Ryo Utogowa. The female bount was named Yoshino Soma.

"How do you want to do this?" asked Sloth.

"Half a dozen automatons guard each cell," I began. "We wake one at a time and interrogate them with a secrecy sensor to make sure they're telling the truth."

"Can't you just read their minds and find out what you need to know?" asked Ichigo.

"We could, but it'd actually take longer to find the information we want from them," I said. "Rukia's a little over a hundred and fifty years old and finding specific memories in her mind is tricky. Everything we've heard says these bounts are even older."

"Too bad we don't have any veritasyrum," said Sloth.

"Speaking of which, I ought to go get started on replacing our potions stock while we interrogate the bounts," I said. Then I pressed my substitute badge to my chest. Homunculus me walked off to start brewing potions, leaving soul reaper me to help with the interrogations.

"Should we wait for him to finish?" asked Uryu.

"Veritasyrum takes a month to brew," I explained.

* * *

"I didn't think soul reapers took prisoners," said the male bount, Ryo Utogawa, upon being awakened.

"What do you know about soul reapers?" asked Rukia.

Thinking for a moment, our prisoner said, "No comment."

"Are ou what is called a bount?" asked Ichigo, verifying.

"No comment," said the bount again.

"What's your plan? Who are you working with? How many of you are there?" demanded Ichigo.

The bount smirked. "I don't think I'm going to comment on any of that either."

"You don't need to say anything," said Uryu. "We have the girl, and she'll tell us anything we need to know."

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," said the bount. The secrecy sensor vibrated, indicating a lie.

"You know exactly what we're talking about," said Uryu.

"Then I suppose it's back to 'no comment'," said Ryo smugly.

Things continued in that vein for a few hours before we were forced to admit this wasn't getting us anywhere. If the other bount proved this intransigent, we might have to resort to legilimency after all. Yoshino was already awaken when we entered her cell. Her eyes darted to the cross on Uryu's right wrist.

"A quincy," she said, half to herself.

"Are quincies some kind of delicacy to you people?" asked Uryu. "Are our souls especially tasty?"

"To be honest, your soul doesn't smell very appetizing," said Yoshino.

"Are you ready to tell us what's going on?" asked Rukia. "Why have the bounts started attacking living humans?"

"I'll explain everything," said Yoshino. "He has to be stopped."

"Who has to be stopped?" asked Kurodo.

"The man responsible," said Yoshino. "A bount named Jin Karia."

Yoshino made good on her promise and explained everything she knew about the situation. Consuming living souls had a different effect on bounts than consuming the souls of the dead. Consuming living souls granted bounts an incredible increase in power, and by consuming enough of them, the bount would gain the ability to manipulate space.

Jin Karia intended to use this ability to open a portal to Hueco Mundo, the world where the hollows dwell. There, he and the bounts he took with him would grow in power, attaining godlike status.

"This has to be related to the Aizen incident," said Renji. "Heading for Hueco Mundo just after Aizen escaped there."

"I haven't heard of this Aizen person, but Jin obviously hasn't handed out all the details of his plan. Even Ryo suspects there's more Jin isn't telling us to his plan."

"Aizen was a soul reaper captain who betrayed the Soul Society recently," I said.

"Does the name Maki Ichinose mean anything to you?" asked Yoshino.

"The name sounds familiar," said Renji, scratching his chin.

"He's a soul reaper who works for Jin," said Yoshino. "Some kind of exile, though I expect from longer ago than this Aizen person."

"That's it," said Renji snapping his fingers. "Ichinose was with squad eleven. He was really attached to the former captain and he left when Captain Zaraki took over."

"What happened to Ichinse's captain?" asked Ichigo.

"Captain Zaraki killed him in a battle witnessed by 200 members of squad eleven," said Renji. "It's one of the three ways to become a captain, and the only one you can do without achieving bankai."

"Wait, you're saying if I killed a captain where 200 of his men saw it, not only would I not be punished, but I could just take over his squad?" I asked.

"Wasn't this in that library you assimilated?" asked Sloth.

"I thought it was an archaic rule that no one used anymore," I said. "An old law that was technically still on the books but no one would think about enforcing."

"Captain Zaraki's the only current captain to get his position that way," said Rukia.

"Two hundred squad members," I mused. "That has to be tricky to arrange logistically."

"Captain Zaraki just called his predecessor out in the middle of the barracks," said Renji with a shrug.

From there, Yoshino went on to describe the other bounts under Karia and their abilities, noting that Jin was gathering additional bounts and she had information on only some of them. All bounts fight using summoned creatures called dolls. Each doll was unique to a bount, and each bount had only one doll. When not in use, the doll is sealed in an object called a mancho. A bount's mancho could be identified by a crest. All bounts call out their dolls using the phrase "Ziega dich."

Yoshino's doll, named Gerte, was the fire creature we'd seen, and the finger gauntlet was her mancho. Ryo's doll was named Frieda, and took the form of a snake. The pocketwatch was his mancho. In addition to serving as a whip capable of pulverizing stone, Frieda had the ability to turn any relatively thin, straight object she looked at into a snake under her control.

A pair of twins, Ho and Ban, had manchos in the form of bottle caps. Both dolls had the ability to manipulate water. The last bount she knew about was a large man named Koga, who's doll Dalk had a metal body she formed into blades, piercing weapons, grapnels, and projectiles. The mancho was a metal orb Koga carried with him. Karia's doll, Messer, had the power to control wind, and was sealed in a silver playing card case.

The bounts were gathering at a mansion outside town. The mansion was isolated on a large plot of heavily forested land. Yoshino estimated there to be less than a dozen remaining bounts in the world, all flocking to Karia's banner.

Bounts weren't capable of reproducing. All of them had been born around the same time about a thousand years ago, and their numbers had been whittled down over time by a combination of accidents, violent persecution, wars, hollow attacks, and suicide. The techniques used to hide their spiritual pressure and summon their dolls were the result of centuries of development, mostly for the purpose of dealing with the hollows drawn to their spirit energy.

Karia was drawing the bounts to Karakura Town specifically because he was looking for a quincy. Apparently, there was a prophecy about Jin's plan, indicating the outcome would hinge on a quincy. Yoshino didn't know the specifics, only that Jin wanted a quincy found and brought back to his mansion alive.

"There's a bount," announced Ririn, interrupting Yoshino's explanation. "Two of them. They're on the surface and both walking straight toward us."

"That must be Ho and Ban," said Yoshino. "They never go anywhere without the other. Return my mancho and I can help you fight them."

The secrecy sensor didn't move. Her offer was genuine. Rukia gave a nod, and I touched the tip of my zanpakto to Yoshino's manacles, unlocking them with an "Alohamora!" Sloth retrieved the finger gauntlet.

The mod souls' detection range wasn't particularly long, so we didn't have time to discuss strategy. I stomped my foot and caused the floor of Yoshino's cell to rise up and the ceiling to open. Sloth gave a quick whistle and Loki hopped on with us. As Uryu was the one the bounts were after, he got off the makeshift elevator as Loki got on. Sloth ordered the automatons to protect him.

On the surface, it was raining. A square of concrete glowed blue with the light of my transmutation and slid aside, with the slab our party was standing on taking its place. The street was deserted except for two boys who looked to be in their young teens. Ririn confirmed they were the bounts.

"Yoshino, what have you gotten yourself into?" asked one of the twins.

"You know Master Karia doesn't want you hurt," added the other.

"It doesn't matter what he wants or doesn't want," said Yoshino. "Ziega dich, Gerte!"

Steam rose off the flaming doll as droplets of rain vaporized as they fell. Ichigo, Renji, and I drew our zanpakto. Rukia took a kido stance, bracing one arm with the other. Chad summoned the armored form of his right arm. Orihime touched her fingertips to her hairpins. Sloth transformed into her magical girl form in a burst of red light, and Loki took on his green scaled, gold maned chimera form in a burst of blue light.

"Destroy them, Gerte!" ordered Yoshino.

"Destroy them? I understand," rumbled the doll, who formed a huge ball of fire in his hands and hurled it at the twins.

Puddles of water from the rain gutters rose up and interposed themselves between the twin bounts and Gerte's fireball. A cloud of steam obscured everyone's vision as the water flash boiled.

"Hado 58: Tenron!" called out Rukia. A swirling vortex of wind blasted from her palm, clearing away the steam.

The twins hadn't moved a muscle and both wore identical self-superior smirks. Ichigo and I flash stepped into melee range on opposite sides of the bounts. Renji positioned himself behind them. With the rest of our party in front, they were surrounded.

"Surrender," I ordered. "Abandon Karia's plans and we'll spare your lives."

"We have an alternate proposal," said a twin.

"Yoshino comes with us and we won't kill the rest of you," finished the other.

The water covering the street rose up and enveloped us. Gerte, who was both made of flames and hovering in the air, was the only one of us not grabbed. In soul reaper form, I needed to breathe, so I quickly cast a bubble head charm on myself.

Noba teleported Chad out of the blob of water containing him. Sloth formed a crimson disk to serve as a foothold and launched herself out of her blob and at the nearest hostile bount. Chad managed to pull Rukia out of the water as Sloth tackled her target to the ground.

"Brother!" called out the standing bount who rushed toward Sloth.

The water wavered and released everyone, instead forming into a massive tentacle that slammed into Sloth's back with a bone shattering impact and sent her flying. Sloth didn't miss a beat, healing her shattered spine, reversing her momentum with a midair foothold, and summoning a yo-yo in each hand as she hurled toward the bounts.

The massive blob of water exploded into smaller blobs the size of drinking glasses, which flew with uncanny accuracy, into the mouths of everyone organic. Grete and the mod souls escaped the attack. The rest of us, including Sloth, collapsed to the ground in agony.

"Our doll lets us control water," said one of the twins. "That includes the seventy percent of the human body that's made up of water."

"We need to take Yoshino back alive," noted the other twin. "The rest of you will be ripped apart from the inside."

An attack like this should be hilariously, instantly lethal. The spirit energy that suffused most of our bodies made every tissue more resistant to damage. It took more force to burst a blood vessel. The heart's enhanced strength allowed it to keep contracting and pumping blood despite the considerable back pressure.

Loki and Sloth didn't have spirit energy, so both of their bodies exploded messily. In Sloth's case, it happened twice in succession, first her material body exploded, exposing her reigai, then the reigai exploded as well. The spiritual matter making up the reigai was directly analogous to the composition of a normal body, so it was vulnerable to the attack the same way Ichigo, Renji, and I were, despite being in soul reaper form and not being made of proper matter.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" Ririn demanded of Gerte.

"He can't act on his own!" said Kon. "He needs Yoshino to give an order!"

"Gerte, attack!" ordered Kurodo in a perfect imitation of Yoshino's voice.

"Attack? I understand," said Gerte, who rocketed toward the twins.

Another wall of water rose between the bounts and the doll, but Noba teleported the twins to the opposite side of the wall at the last minute. They didn't have time to gasp in surprise before a flaming fist struck each of them, sending them flying off their feet, and backward into the wall of water they thought to use as a shield.

The bounts' own spirit energy saved them from being killed immediately by Gerte's attack, but their loss of concentration prevented them from manipulating the water in our bodies. The others didn't have my pain tolerance and spent a moment choking and gasping for breath. I was aware enough and mad enough to prioritize other things than being able to breathe.

Gripping my zanpakto in both hands, I flash stepped directly in front of one bount. Still disoriented from Gerte's hit, he couldn't muster a defense as I cleanly severed his head from his shoulders. Because I couldn't breathe, I couldn't speak an incantation, but I pointed my sword at the remaining twin and let the hatred I felt for him make up the difference. A bolt of green light flew from my sword's tip and impacted in his center of mass. The killing curse snuffed out his life instantly, and his body fell limp. The water lost its animation and both bodies crumpled to dust. I fell to one knee gasping with the rain obscuring the tears streaming down my face.

Red light from the gem in Sloth's tiara wrapped itself around some of the bloody chunks strewn about the street and drew them together. Where the light faded, whole, undamaged flesh was left behind. In no time, Sloth's Soul Gem had reconstituted her reigai.

"Loki!" said Sloth looking at a second pile of gore, this one distinguishable by the green scales glistening in the street lights. "Where's my bag? I need a Grief Seed!"

"Here," said Ririn, holding up the blood soaked strap to Sloth.

Ignoring the blood from her material body, Sloth pulled open the bag and took out a black Grief Seed. Touching it to the Soul Gem in the center of her forehead, Sloth extended a hand out to Loki's corpse. Her Soul Gem grew dark and clouded as she worked her magic to resurrect the slain chimera. The black corruption rose like smoke off Sloth's Soul Gem and was drawn into the Grief Seed.

Loki'd come back in his floppy eared, brown dog form. I dropped my sword and rushed over, wrapping my arms around both of them. I hissed Sloth's cheek and kissed the top of Loki's head.

"I'm fine, Greed," said Sloth, kissing my cheek in return. "You know that as long as my Soul Gem is intact, I'll be fine. And as long as I'm here, nothing will be able to take Loki away from us."

"What happened here?" asked a familiar voice. I looked up and saw Ganju Shiba of the Soul Society's West Rukon District and Hanataro Yamada, of the fourth division.

"Ganju? Hanataro? What are you guys doing here?" asked Ichigo.

"Sis heard there was some sort of trouble and sent me to see if I could help out," said Ganju.

"Same for me, but it was Captain Unohana who sent me," said Hanataro.

Loki whined and squirmed out of my embrace, padding over to the remaining pile of bones and exploded organs. Our dog couldn't see either Sloth nor I as anything more than humanoid forms outlined by the rain. I clapped and transmuted Sloth's material body back to its pre-exploded state and Sloth got in, reassuring Loki that it was her and she was all right.

"Come on, let's get out of the rain and we'll explain everything," said Ichigo.

"If the action's over, we should really get back to the convenience store," said Ganju.

"Convenience store?" asked Rukia.

"We're working there to pay for food and shelter while we're in the world of the living," explained Hanataro. "The manager's really nice, and gave us both these jobs without asking too many questions."

"I'll cover your stay," I said, leading them to the elevator.

Yoshino sealed Gerte back in her mancho, we soul reapers resheathed our swords, Sloth ended her magical girl transformation, and I lowered us all down into my lab.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Even a small amount of additional manpower tips the scales in some of the early encounters with the bounts. With the ability to take the bounts prisoner instead of just fight them to the death on the spot, some new options open up.


	19. Chapter 20: Preparing for the Assault

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 20) Preparing for the Assault  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

After Ganju and Hanataro were filled in, we got to work planning our next move. Yoshino had provied us with the location of the bounts' mansion, but a direct assault against an unknown number of enemies with unknown powers was suicide, especially with how close Ho and Ban had come to killing us all. We needed more information.

"Kurodo, you can impersonate someone down to their powers and spirit energy, right?" I asked the mod soul.

"If I were in my gigai I could," he replied.

"What are you thinking?" asked Rukia.

"Kurodo can infiltrate the bounts' mansion disguised as Ryo, get information on the bounts Yoshino didn't know, scout the place for hostages, then report back so we can plan our attack," I said.

"That's a good plan, but it would mean leaving Orihime unguarded," said Kurodo.

"I've got two mod souls with me," said Ichigo. "Ririn can stay with Orihme and keep her safe."

"Why does she get to go?" demanded Kon.

"Because I know the trouble you'd cause if I sent you," replied Ichigo, irritably.

"Urahara and the others need to be informed what we've found out and what the plan is," said Sloth.

"Right," said Renji. "I'll take care of that."

"Kurodo," said Uryu, "while you're posing as Ryo, I want you to tell the bounts about me, my lost powers, and that I'm the last of the quincies."

"Why, Uryu?" asked Orihime.

Uryu adjusted his glasses and said, "This prophecy means the bounts will be going after quincies. If they're focused on me, we'll be better able to predict where they'll strike." Silently, he added, and Sloth relayed it to Ichigo Rukia, Renji, Orihime, Chad, and I, "And the last thing we want is them targeting my mother and grandfather."

"I have an apartment Karia knows about," said Yoshino. "I can take Uryu there to hide out. No offense, but the quincy boy and I can hide our spiritual pressure. That advantage is wasted if we hide out with any of you."

"Make her take an unbreakable vow," said Ririn. "If she hurts Uryu or betrays us to Karia, she dies."

"Given everything we know, that's a pretty reasonable precaution," said Uryu. "Yoshino?"

The bount nodded her assent. She and Uryu clasped hands and I touchedmy sealed zanpakto to them. Fire looped around their hands as Yoshino swore not to harm Uryu or betray our cause of defeating Karia.

"Does this mean Uryu is married to Yoshino now?" asked Orihime.

"No!" snapped Ichigo and Ririn at the same time.

"The unbreakable vow is about the least romantic thing I can think of," I said. "Once you take the vow, you no longer have any choice in the matter. You fulfill the terms or you die. Who would want to be with someone who didn't have a choice?"

"That's true," said Orihime.

"Greed, I think you should go with Kurodo and back him up," said Sloth.

"Even under a disillusionment charm, they'd sense my spirit energy a mile off," I said.

"Homunculi don't have spirit energy," noted Sloth. "And no one can eat your soul if you don't bring it with you."

"That's... a really good idea," I said. "I've missed you."

Sloth smiled. "This you and me will stay here and get whatever information we can out of Ryo. Everyone else should go home and get some rest. We'll plan on meeting at Urahara's shop after school gets out tomorrow."

"You really think we should go to school tomorrow?" asked Ichigo.

"Kurodo will need time to gather information," said Rukia. "Plus, since we're apparently not modifying your friends' memories, they need to be told everyone's okay after we ran off today."

I apparated to Orihime's apartment and retrieved Kurodo's gigai. The others trickled out, returning to their respective homes for the night. I synchronized my homunculus and soul reaper selves' memories, then homunculus me hopped onto Kurodo's head, transforming into a louse in mid-leap. Before Ganju and Hanataro left, I handed each of them a stack of bills.

* * *

When Sloth and I were alone, she said, "Obviously, getting whatever information we can out of the bounts is important."

"Obviously," I agreed.

"Our best bet is legilimency," continued Sloth.

"I agree," I said. "Without time to brew veritasyrum, and with him answering every question with "no comment" we don't have any other means."

"We'll probably be up all night trying to extract anything relevant."

"Anything less and I don't think we'd be doing our part," I said. "Besides, this'll be good practice."

Sloth smiled. "You would think of that angle. The thing is, we'll need to be rested and in top form for the attack on the bount mansion tomorrow."

"You're thinking we probe his mind, then time turn back to the beginning of the night," I said.

"It doesn't look like things are going to let up for us for a while," said Sloth. "Stealing a few hours for ourselves here and there's probably the only way we'll get that time. This is a world full of soul eating monsters. If we wait for the crisis to end, who knows how long we'll be waiting?"

"And we did spend three solid months in combat training without a real break thanks to Kiske's game," I said.

"It's probably a good thing we did," said Sloth. "We would've had to do it eventually anyway if we wanted to stay and help the others. We'd probably be doing it right now, since there's a real threat."

"You're probably right about that," I said. "Okay, so only one of us can be in his head at a time. I say we take turns. Whoever isn't digging through his head can work on other preparations. We've got a lot of potions that'd probably be useful tomorrow that we have time to brew, and I've got some ideas for other tools that would help out."

Ryo was a thousand years old, older than Dante and Hohenheim combined. Long ago, there had been people Ryo cared about, but after losing enough of them to the short, human lifespan, he just stopped forming attachments. Even after meeting other bounts, he couldn't bring himself to get genuinely attached after being hurt so often. The centuries had worn away almost everything about him. At this point, all he had was ambition.

Ryo was a traitor to Karia's cause, just in a different way than Yoshino. While Yoshino was disgusted that Jin would take the souls of living humans for power, Ryo fully approved of every aspect of Jin's plan save one. When the bounts entered Hueco Mundo and attained godlike power, Ryo wanted to be the one in charge instead of a follower of Karia's.

Most interesting to me were his memories of two of the bounts' signature techniques. The initial process of summoning, bonding with, and training a doll was all laid out in his mind. It involved a circle and a familiar set of ingredients. The dolls were a variation on homunculi. The bounts used a spirit energy fueled seal to protect them from the Gate, to the point they were only vaguely aware of it as a hazard of the doll summoning ritual they needed to defend against. Like the transmutation circle I used when traveling between worlds, the bounts' seals protected them from the Gate Children, but simultaneously blocked out the Truth. I suspected this prophecy was a product of an improperly performed doll summoning ritual. That also explained part of why human lives strengthened the bounts' powers.

The second interesting tidbit I pulled from Ryo's mind was about the technique the bounts used to hide their spirit energy. There was no way I was going to learn the technique itself through legilimency. It would take training and practice. What I learned that was more immediately useful was how the bounts survived before the technique was invented.

Their spirit energy attracted hollows, and without their dolls to protect them, they were easy prey. The lucky survivors discovered the exitence of caves with a peculiar mineral composition that masked spirit energy. Ryo's knowledge of how to find said caves combined with the geology and mineralogy knowledge any competent alchemist needed allowed me to derive the composition of the spirit energy concealing material.

While I was probing Ryo's mind, Sloth had managed to brew most of the potions, so I was free to spend my time on other tools. I integrated the spirit energy concealing material into a set of new invisibility cloaks. Things I had learned in the Gate about the Deathly Hallows allowed me to render the disillusionment charms long lasting and resistant to dispelling like Harry's cloak had been. We wouldn't have a repeat of when Shunshi destroyed the cloaks Chad and I were wearing.

I traded in my shoulder bag for a utility belt covered with pouches. Each pouch had an undetectable extension charm placed on it. This way, I wouldn't have my movements impaired by the shoulder strap of my bag and the multiple pouches would let me be a bit more organized, rather than fumbling through my bag at a critical moment for a needed item.

Finally, I produced a protective cover for Sloth to wear over her Soul Gem in battle. I started with transmuted diamond molded to fit perfectly over the crystal on her crown in her transformed state. This provided a baseline of physical protection while being transparent so the level of corruption in her Soul Gem could be observed. To this, I applied an unbreakable charm to reinforce the diamond's already high durability. I didn't want to risk spells on the Soul Gem itself for obvious reasons. Then I added a number of reactive shielding spells, from the protego charm to a number of high level kido.

Sloth drew a map of the bounts' mansion based on Ryo's memory. The spells used to create the Marauders Map required that the caster be physically in the location to be mapped so we couldn't use it to track the bounts' activity, but it would let us plan our attack when we met up with the others.

* * *

Author's comments:  
The abilities of the mod souls were deeply underutilized during this arc.


	20. Chapter 22: Battle of the Bount Mansion

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 22) Battle of the Bount Mansion  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Kurodo arrived at the bount mansion before midnight. The mansion was enormous, set on a sprawling set of grounds and located in an isolaed, heavily wooded area. The main entry had had a pair of sweeping staircases leading to halls overlooking the entry area proper. A tapestry depicting a witch hunt hung at the landing where the stairs divided.

Kurodo walked with perfect confidence despite the fact that I knew he had no idea where he was going. He marched into one empty room after another, before entering a room where Jin Karia was seated.

Karia had short white hair, red eyes, and a scar on his chin. He dressed in a black and red shirt that had been tailored. The leader of the bounts was lounging in a chair in front of a window that looked out on the night sky.

"Master Karia," said Kurodo, announcing his presence the way Yoshino had said Ryo did.

"Utogowa," acknowledged Karia without taking his eyes off the night sky. "Where have you been?"

"My appologies, Master Karia," said Kurodo. "I was out having a bite to eat when I was ambushed by a combined group of humans and soul reapers. And Master, there was a quincy with them."

"Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends," noted Karia. "What happened?"

"I'm ashamed to admit, I was overpowered," said Kurodo. "While we were fighting, Yoshino arrived and made off with the quincy. The soul reapers captured me and tried to interrogate me. I gave nothing up, of course. Through their clumsy interrogations, I learned that the quincy, Uryu Ishida, is the last quincy still alive. Apparently he's recently lost his powers."

"So, he did use it," said Karia to himself.

"Master Karia?" asked Kurodo.

"The Quincy Final Form," said Karia. "It's a rare technique, only used once during our long ago war with their kind. It grants them an incredible burst of spirit energy and absolute control over reshi. The increase in power is so great, their bodies seal their own spirit energy to keep it from killing them."

"Will he be any use to us without his spirit energy?" asked Kurodo.

"The quincies have a means to recover from having their powers sealed by the Final Form," said Karia. "When Koga brings him here, we might be able to duplicate the process."

"You already sent Koga?" asked Kurodo.

"I sent him to bring back Yoshino," said Karia. "She thinks she can hide from me. If the quincy is with her, Koga will bring him back as well."

"I see," said Kurodo noncommittally.

"Ho and Ban," said Karia. "What happened to them?"

"They were able to provide me an opening to escape, but both were killed by the soul reapers."

Karia got to his feet and said, "The others arrived while you were indisposed, Utogowa. Come, I'll show you to the others. Ichinose did an exceptional job gathering the remaining bounts."

The other bounts were in a waiting room. Kurodo faked his way through greetings. Swatari was an extremely elderly looking man with a cane. Mabashi was a young man with long, heavily styled orange hair halfway between Ichigo and Orihime's shades. Yoshi was a woman with long, dark green hair, and Ugaki was a slightly balding man wearing round framed glasses.

For someone who might as well have literally been born yesterday, Kurodo played his role to perfection, using what little we knew of Ryo's mannerisms and habits from our brief confrontation and Yoshino's descriptions to keep the bounts from suspecting he'd been replaced. Meanwhile, he used innocuous seeming small talk to draw information out of the bounts. In a room full of thousand year old immortals, not one of them suspected they were being interrogated. It was scary how good he was at this. That this skill set basically had to have come from Kiske fit with the vaguely unnerving speed the man had analyzed my alchemic abilities and spotted weaknesses. It left me grateful they seemed to be on our side and uncomfortably wondering how I'd know if they weren't.

Karia'd been keeping information segregated. No one bount except Karia knew the whole plan, but Ugaki, Yoshi, and Ichinose each had exclusive knowledge the others including Yoshino and the real Ryo didn't. Working together, they'd likely be able to enact the plan without Karia, so simply eliminating him wouldn't be the end of this.

While Kurodo made small talk, Koga arrived back. Koga was a red headed bount with a beard who was built like Sig Curtis. He wasn't quite as tall as Sig, but his build still indicated a massive amount of strength even before factoring in spirit energy.

Koga had returned empty handed. He'd found Yoshino's apartment and confronted her and Uryu. His doll Dalk had battled Yoshino's doll Gerte, but Uryu had saved them both with a technique Koga didn't recognize. His description told me they'd escaped via portkey.

Everyone in the room knew a quincy was somehow important to Jin's plan. Yoshi suggested they go out and hunt Uryu down, but Jin told them all to wait. His assessment was that if Uryu and Yoshino were working together, both would be coming here very soon and the bounts ought to prepare a welcome for them. Karia emphasized that he didn't want Uryu or Yoshino harmed, though the bounts were free to do as they pleased with anyone else who came to the mansion.

* * *

The next morning, Sloth and I got into bodies and headed into school. Uryu was there when we arrived. He and Yoshino had been attacked by a bount named Koga the previous night, but had managed to use the portkey to Urahara's shop to escape. Yoshino was still there now. Uryu had come in to school today to relay his information, and to keep up his attendance with how often spiritual matters interfeared.

A quick update on the situation was relayed to Tatski and Koga during attendance, then we let everyone focus on their lessons. At lunch, Sloth and I took Tatski and Keigo up to the roof to talk privately. Once we were alone, I took out two small glass balls.

"These are called remembrals," I said. "When you touch them, they'll glow if you've forgotten something. Sometimes that might just mean you forgot to do your homework, bit it might mean someone tampered with your memory."

The remembrals remained dark as I set them in Tatski and Keigo's hands. Apparently, they weren't missing any more memories after Rukia restored their memories of her.

"Greed and I each keep one at our bedside and check every morning when we get up, just in case," said Sloth.

"What do we do if it does glow?" asked Tatski.

"Come see one of us," I said. "Rukia and Renji agreed not to modify your memories anymore, so it probably means some enemy action is to blame."

"Or it means you forgot to study," noted Sloth. "It's a pretty crude tool prone to false positives, but it's better than nothing."

"So you're going after these bount people today?" confirmed Keigo.

I nodded. "Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to tell you that you can stop worrying."

"Doesn't that mean no one'll be close by if a hollow shows up, though?" asked Keigo.

"We'll be carrying our phones," I said. "If you spot a hollow, give us a call and one of us will be there."

"We can move pretty quick when we need to," said Sloth.

* * *

While my soul reaper self was at school, homunculus me continued to work with Kurodo to gather information about the bounts. While Kurodo talked to the bounts, I made use of a less conventional information gathering method. As an insect so small as to be nearly invisible, I carefully maneuvered myself so I could see the bounts' hands.

My education at Hogwarts had included numerous methods of divination. Palm reading wasn't one of my favorites, but I was competent at it. All six bounts had extrodinarily long life lines, but as I read things, they were fast approaching their end.

Ugaki's death would come when his own power turned against him. Mabashi would die at the hands of a soul reaper he underestimated. Yoshi would not merely die. It was her destiny to be extinguished utterly by a quincy's arrow. Jin's death would come in the manner of his choosing, and he would have no regrets. Only Koga's palm showed him surviving the ordeals of the next few weeks.

Swatari's wrinkled palm interested me deeply. The elderly bount would die alongside his doll at the hands of one of my enemies. That battle would leave my enemy open to attack if I was prepared to take advantage of it.

All the bounts were destined to cause a lot more suffering before the end, and to take a lot more lives. These predictions all told me that htis wasn't ending tonight. Our raid on the mansion was fated to fail, and more deaths would come because of that failure.

My divination teacher, Professor Trelawney, had tried to teach us acceptance for what fate had in store for us. She believed that prophecies meant that the future was already written, and that divination was there to allow us time to come to terms with what was to come. The centaurs disagreed. The fact that they enforced laws on their own kind against setting themselves against the stars was an acknowledgement that they believed destiny could be thwarted. I chose to believe my choices could change the future.

Finally, the appointed time arrived. Kurodo walked into a bathroom, locked the door, and took out the portkey. Taking a moment to turn the hot water valve on the shower on to full, he gave me a quick count down and we touched the portkey together.

* * *

At Urahara's shop, the members of our group gathered. Kurodo and I shapeshifted back to our default forms, and my soul reaper and homunculus selves merged before taking a seat at the table. Tessai served tea. Once everyone was settled in, Kiske broke the ice.

"All right, I'm sure everyone has a lot to report, but I'd like Yorhichi to start. She's just been to the Soul Society, and they've recently uncovered some information."

"This isn't the first time the bounts have abandoned their law against consuming living souls," said Yoruichi. "The stealth force recorded a battle around the last time the bounts tried this. A battle with the quincies."

"That fits with what we learned," interjected Kurodo. "Karia talked about a long ago war between the bounts and the quincies, which is how he knows what he does about their powers and techniques."

"The video was highly degraded," continued Yoruichi, "but we were able to determine that the bounts were after a specific quincy. Yoshino, do you know the significance of this?"

Yoshino shook her head. "All I know of the quincies is what Jin told me and what I've heard from Uryu."

"What about you, Uryu? Any idea what made this quincy the bounts were targeting special?" asked Rukia.

"Without knowing what the bounts intended to do once they had him, it's impossible to say," said Uryu. "My grandfather studied the history of our people. He might know about the war with the bounts and what they were after."

"Your grandfather? I thought you were the last quncy," said Yoshino.

"I wasn't sure you could be trusted before," said Uryu. "I didn't want my family endangered."

"What changed your mind?" asked Rukia.

"When the bount attacked us last night, Yoshino didn't have to protect me, but she did," said Uryu.

"When you go to your grandfather to ask about the bounts' history," I said, "you should ask him how to restore your powers. Karia knew the technique you used and said the quincies had a way to recover from it."

"That's great news, Uryu!" exclaimed Orihime.

"I take it this means you didn't tell your family you lost your powers either?" said Ichigo, rolling his eyes.

"You're one to talk," snapped Uryu, "Does anyone in your family even know you're a soul reaper?"

"Who am I supposed to tell?" asked Ichigo. "Karin's the only one who can see spirits and she refuses to believe in them."

"Perhaps we should get back to the task at hand," suggested Kiske, silencing the argument. "Kurodo, what have you found out?"

Kurodo passed on names and descriptions as well as laying out who knew who among the bounts and how well. Kurodo had been able to see Maki Ichinose at the mansion, while I had not due to not having my soul with me at the time. From the description, this was the same soul reaper I'd noticed sneaking around invisible in the Soul Society's library researching Jokai crests. Sloth and I explained the encounter to the others.

"I suppose that confirms it was Ichinose who tried to erase the bount data from the Department of Research and Development's computers," said Yoruichi. "Does any of this sound familiar, Yoshino?"

"Obviously, there were a lot of things Jin never told me," said Yoshino.

"Ryo didn't know anything about this either," said Sloth. "Karia compartmentalizes his information."

"What does it matter what he's up to?" asked Ganju. "We aren't letting him succeed anyway."

"It matters because knowing what he's after makes him easier to stop," explained Ichigo irritably.

"True, but we don't have enough information right now to answer that," said Rukia. "Maybe we should go over our plan of attack."

The primary goal was not to let any of the bounts escape. To that end, one of the mod souls would be positioned at each corner of the mansion. Jinta and Ururu would be placed at a distance so they could bombard the mansion with Ururu's shoulder cannon if things went bad for us and we needed a distraction. Kiske and Tessai would be guarding the shop as our fallback point. Hanataro would be on hand at the shop to treat any wounded. Uryu would also have to stay behind at the shop, as we didn't want to risk Karia getting his hands on the quincy he needed.

The rest of us would be assaulting the bount mansion directly. Ideally, we wanted to capture rather than kill as many as possible. Any captives could be interrogated for more information about Karia's plan.

* * *

Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, Yoruichi, Ganju, Yoshino, Rukia, Renji, Sloth, and I stood outside the gate to the bount mansion. The others were in position. The bounts and their soul reaper ally were making no attempt to hide their spiritual pressure. They were definitely all in there. As a group, we marched toward the front door.

Yoshino pushed open the door and our party stepped into the entry hall. Karia was waiting for us on the stairs, and the other bounts were lined up against he railings looking down on the entry hall. Ichinose stood on the overlook with the bounts.

"Yoshino, welcome home," said Karia. "I see you brought the soul reapers and their allies. And the quincy boy is safely tucked away where he won't get hurt. Excellent."

Nervous looks were exchanged within our party before Ichigo stepped forward and put a hand on Yoshino's shoulder, saying, "Don't worry. Uryu says you can be trusted and that's good enough for us."

"Ichigo Kurosaki," said Karia. "What a pleasure to finally meet you."

"We know Ichinose told you about us," said Sloth. "We're not intimidated."

"Give up, Karia," said Yoruichi. "You're outnumbered, and even if you could take us all on, we're prepared to reduce this whole mansion to rubble if it comes tot hat."

"Isn't that just like the Soul Society," said Karia. "Gather us up in one place so you can cut us all down at once. Let me tell you, it won't be so easy this time. Every bunt here has survived hardships and violence down through the centuries. We're no longer the frightened children we were when you first tried to wipe us out."

"Is it true?" asked Ichigo. "Did the Soul Society try to wipe out the bounts?"

"If they did, it was before my time," said Yorhichi. "Soul reapers are long lived, but not immortal. Captain Commander Yamamoto has been in charge for the past thousand years. If it did happen, he'd know."

"How could he keep track?" I asked. "The quincies. The mod souls. The bounts. The genocides must start to blend together after a while."

"What are you saying?" asked Renji.

I looked at him and said, "I'm saying it has to end sometime. Every bount in the world is gathered here in this room. Do you want to be the one who ends an entire race of people?" Turning to Karia, I said, "We won't let you open your portal. We can't. If you abandon this plan, we can come to some sort of peaceful resolution."

"A peaceful resolution that leaves the bounts slaves to the soul reapers. I think not," said Karia.

"That's not what they said. Please, Jin, think about what you're doing," pleaded Yoshino.

"I've thought of little else for a very long time," said Karia.

"Does that go for all of you?" asked Ichigo, looking around. "All right then."

As we stared down our enemies, Sloth allowed us to telepathically divvy up our opponents. Yoshino and Karia had history, so she got first dibs on him. Ichigo and Renji would be fighting Ichinose and Koga respectively. Yorhichi would go after Yoshi. Chad was up against Ugaki and Ganju picked Swatari. Rukia nd Orihime were hanging back so they could provide support to anyone who got into trouble. Mabashi was the least informed, least liked, and least trusted of the bounts. Sloth and I were going to double team him and see if we could get him to change his mind.

The telepathic link let us all move at the same time. Those of us with the speed for it flash stepped up to our opponents. Ganju turned the balcony under Swatari to sand to bring him down to ground level, and Chad blasted the floor out from under Ugaki for the same effect. Yoshino summoned her doll and it attacked Karia with a blast of fire that Karia dodged with a flash step of his own.

I punched Mabashi in the face hard enough that the door behind him splintered as he fell backward through it. Sloth wrapped his arms and legs with the string of her yo-yo.

"Zeiga dich, Ritza," said Mabanshi, and a previously invisible crest glowed green on a jewel he wore on the choker around his neck. The pendant detached itself from his necklace and fell to the floor where it opened like a seed and a bell shaped flower grew out of it. The flower unfolded and revealed a fox like face in its center as the stem retracted and the whole doll floated off the ground in front of Mabashi.

My zanpakto wasn't available to me in my current form, so I drew a hilt engraved with a transmutation circle from one of the pouches on my utility belt. Blue light poured off the array as a blade of blue alchemic light extended from the hilt. I casually passed the blade through a table and lamp as I raised the sword into position so Mabashi could see that even a light touch of my weapon broke down matter along its path like a hot knife through butter.

"Give up. You can't win," I said.

"Take her, Ritza!" ordered Mabashi.

"I understand," squeaked the tiny doll. Then it rocketed toward Sloth.

Ritza was faster and more maneuverable than I expected. She dodged my alchemic blade and plunged into Sloth's chest before she could raise a defense. Sloth retracted her yo-yo, freeing Mabashi, who stood up and dusted himself off, smirking. Sloth stepped between me and Mabashi and faced me.

"Now it looks like you're the one outnumbered," said Mabashi.

"Greed, he's taken over my body. Cut it down," Sloth said telepathically.

I nodded. Then I flash stepped past Sloth, smoothly decapitating her as I went by, coming to a stop in front of a surprised, wide eyed Mabashi, who I grabbed by the throat. Ritza dislodged herself from Sloth's corpse and launched herself at my back, clearly intending to take me over.

Crimson light flared from Sloth's Soul Gem as she repaired her body, got to her feet, and rushed to get between me and Ritza. Slapping to a stop, Sloth held out a hand and a barrier of red light cut Ritza off from her, Mabashi, and myself.

"That's a new trick," I commented as I held my alchemic blade up, illuminating Mabashi's face.

"It's the same idea as the midair footholds," said Sloth with a smile.

"What are you going to do with me?" asked Mabashi as he learned he was nowhere near strong enough to pry my fingers off his throat.

"That depends on you," I said. "We could kill you, but I meant what I said earlier. I'd rather this not become a genocide. Let's see if I can find a way to convince you."

I locked eyes with the bount and began sifting through thoughts, memories, and feelings looking for an argument he would accept. Mabashi squirmed, but he wasn't able to break eye contact. I shut out the explosions of the battle behind me to focus on the task at hand. I saw what I was looking for and withdrew from the bount's mind.

"What was that?" asked Mabashi.

Ignoring his question, I said, "Jin didn't tell you. His plan involves all the bounts consuming living souls. You know that law was put in place for a reason, and it has nothing to do with protecting the balance between worlds." I released my hold and Mabashi fell back on his butt.

"Swatari," said Mabashi. "He's consumed hundreds of living souls, and it's aged him. Karia has to realize what a terrible idea that is."

"Do you think any of the others would object?" I asked. "Do you think they'd let you object? Why do you think they were hunting Yoshino before she joined us?"

Rubbing his neck, Mabashi asked, "What's my alternative? A slow death by starvation? Living or dead, soul reapers don't tend to approve of our diets."

I reached into a pouch and flicked a small green pill to Mabashi, who caught it and stared a moment.

"The Soul Society's technology hasn't been standing still for the last thousand years," I said. "That's called a soul candy. A mass produced artificial soul with a consiousness too simple to be considered properly alive. Soul reapers use them to take care of their gigais, but they ought to work just fine as cruelty free bount food."

Mabashi popped the pill in his mouth, bit down, and smiled. "I think we have a deal."

Sloth lowered her barrier and Ritza flew back to Mabashi and sealed herself back inside the stone on Mabashi's necklace. At that moment, the roof exploded off the mansion, and I could make out two figures fighting in the air. The three of us rushed back to where the others were fighting.

The ground was pockmarked with a dozen circular sand pits courtesy of Ganju's kido spell. Ganju was rushing ahead of a large, fish shaped shadow on the ground and making more sand pits in its path. Koga's metal doll Dalk had turned one of her arms into a machine gun. Renji was on the defensive, batting the storm of bullets aside with his shikai. Ichigo and Ichinose were engaged in a high speed duel, flash stepping before and after every sword swing. Rukia, Chad, and Orihime were fighting back to back against a swarm of creatures that resembled floating eyeballs, except that the eye split horizontally to reveal a toothy maw. Four black tentacles protruded from the side of each eye creature. Yoshi was on the defensive using a sword and fan linked by a chain to block Yoruichi's attacks. Electric energy was arcing along Yoruichi's arms and across her back, adding an extra threat to any blow she might land. Her speed and power had Yoshi continuously giving ground and left the bount no openings for a counterattack.

Karia was one of the combatants fighting in the air. He was fighting a creature that looked like a female version of Yoshino's doll Gerte. Mabashi provided an explanation for what I was seeing.

"They've both merged with their dolls!" declared Mabashi in disbelief.

At that moment, Karia thrust his hand through his opponent's stomach. The flames surrounding Yoshino shattered, and she fell to the ground with a wound that bled freely. Orhime launched the two rika that formed her healing shield toward Yoshino. Even as Orihime's powers closed Yoshino's wound, motes of green light began to float off Yoshino's body.

The bounts fighting at ground level leaped over the mansion's walls and withdrew their dolls from combat. Our party plus Mabashi were now the only ones inside the mansion. We moved to check on and defend Yoshino.

"Thank you," said Yoshino to Orihime. "The pain is gone. I think this is the right way to die."

Suddenly, her body turned to dust and blew away, leaving only her clothes behind.

"I don't understand," said Orihme. "I-I healed her wound. She shouldn't have died."

"Once a bount gains a doll, their lives are connected," said Mabashi. "Karia destroyed Yoshino's doll, so it didn't matter what state her body was in. When your doll is destroyed, you die."

The motes of green light that rose off Yoshino's body gathered at Jin's feet as he stood in midair. A symbol drew itself in midair out of crimson light. It was an alchemy diagram. The transmutation circle the bounts used to summon and bind their dolls was circumscribed by a diamond pattern. I committed the array to memory for future analysis. The green energy released form Yoshino's body turned into thousands of eggs the size of small dogs which hatched to reveal enormous teal blue insects.

Yoruichi ended the technique that sent lightning coursing along her limbs, pulled out her soul phone and said, "Jinta! Start the bombardment now!"

I gripped Mabashi's arm and said, "Portkeys everyone. It's time to go." I turned on the spot and apparated back to Urahara's shop with Mabashi coming with me side along.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Mabashi isn't a hero. He's a survivor. His objection to Karia trying to make the bounts eat living souls was that doing so would hamper their immortality, not any thought about the sanctity of life. Even so, he was the only bount aside from Yoshino to raise any objection at all to Karia's plans.


	21. Chapter 23: The Quincy's Power Restored

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 23) The Quincy's Power Restored  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Yoshihno's death cast a pall of depression over our after action report. After trying and failing to revive Yoshino, Sloth kept her Soul Gem out in egg form so there'd be some warning about how much this entirely mundane grief was darkening her Soul Gem. Mabashi wasn't happy about wearing the spirit energy sealing manacles, but he acknowledged their necessity.

The remaining bounts along with Ichinose had made it past the mod souls. Ririn and the others did verify none of the bounts had been caught by Ururu's bombardment. Mabashi didn't have any useful information we didn't already know. The only thing turning him accomplished was denying a minion to Karia.

"I should have been there," said Uryu.

"What would you have done?" asked Ichigo.

"I would have had my powers back by now if I wasn't such a coward," declared Uryu. "Now, Yoshino's dead because I couldn't bring myself to admit to my sensai what I'd done."

Uryu got up and walked out of the shop. His spirit energy vanished the instant he was out the door. He wanted to be left alone.

"Isn't someone going to go after him?" demanded Ririn. "We might not understand everything the bounts are planning, but they still need a quincy! If he's wandering around alone, he could be kidnapped!"

"Don't worry, Ririn," I said, checking my watch. "I'm already giving him a covert escort."

"What happened to his powers anyway?" asked Mabashi. "I could feel his spirit energy just fine."

"What's it matter to you?" asked Renji.

"The chains not withstanding, I did throw my lot in with you," said Mabashi. "If you don't win and Karia does, I'll go the same way as Yoshino. So, I figured it was in my best interest to help if I could."

"What kind of help are you offering?" asked Rukia.

"Well," said Mabashi, "if I'm right and what's happening is his powers are sealed somehow, my Ritza has the ability to draw out the power inside a person."

"And that way, if Karia does win, you'll be able to say he only got his needed quincy because of you," I said.

Mabashi smiled and said, "You don't survive a thousand years without knowing how to play the angles."

"Ritza possesses people," noted Sloth. "The goal is for Uryu to have his powers, not you controlling his body and powers."

"My Ritza wouldn't have to stay in control," said Mabashi. "All she'd have to do is push him past the seal. Then she could leave his body and the seal should still be gone."

"Even so," I said, "let's call that plan B."

* * *

Shortly after that point, our group broke up into teams. The full soul reapers, exiled or otherwise, went out to try and locate their new hideout. Ganju got to put his convenience store experience to use manning hte shop to free up the more highly trained Urahara and Tessai. Ichigo and the mod souls were tasked with devising defenses against the bounts. Sloth and I took Chad and Orihme to help deal with the prisoners more permanently.

With their help, we took Ryo and Mabashi out to the smoldering ruins of the mansion. Once there, I stomped my foot and transmuted the mansion back to a fully intact state. I made some modifications to the original floor plan, including two underground areas, one serving as a dungeon, the other a lab. After temporarily dropping hte bounts off in the dungeon, I cast a number of fideleous charms with Chad and Orhime's help.

Chad was made secret keeper for my lab so no one would accidentally wander in and get hurt by the dangerous chemicals I'd be working with. Orihime was made secret keeper for all the bedrooms, so anyone staying here could expect privacy. A separate fideleous charm hid the mansion as a whole with Chad acting as secret keeper, and yet another hid the grounds with Orihime serving as secret keeper. Once all that was set up, we went down to the dungeon to speak to the bounts.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," I said as we entered their prison cell. "Your new accommodations are ready."

"Karia and the other bounts can't find this place," said Sloth. "Neither can the Soul Society or the hollows."

"Master Karia is more resourceful than you give him credit for," said Ryo.

"You can stay down here in the dungeon if you want," said Mabashi. "I've just been waiting for them to finish the defenses."

"We'll unlock your manacles and let you out of your cell once you take an unbreakable vow," said Sloth. "Understand that the nature of the spell we're using means that if you break your vow, you'll die."

The vow I imposed had three parts, three things the bounts were not to do without my permission: harm other beings, leave the grounds, or mess with my stuff. Mabashi agreed to those terms and took the unbreakable vow. Ryo refused and so stayed in the dungeon.

Sloth, Chad, and Orihime got to work moving what was in my lab into the new, more secure mansion. Both were welcomed to move in as well, but the mansion's isolated location made it less suitable for people not able to apparate. While they did that, I donned my new invisibility cloak, used the time turner concealed inside my pocket watch, and followed Uryu as he left the shop a few hours earlier.

* * *

Uryu followed his grandfather, Soken Ishida's spirit ribbon to an out of the way wooded area outside town near a creek at the foot of a small waterfall. The elderly quincy was preparing a meal at a small campfire when Uryu arrived.

"Uryu," said the old man, getting to his feet. "It's good to see you. We haven't had much chance to talk since my return."

"Sensai," said Uryu, choking up with emotion. "I have been a disobedient student."

"What's wrong, Uryu? Come, sit with me and we'll talk."

After sitting, Uryu took a long moment finding his words. His grandfather waited patiently for the young man. Finally, Uryu took a handful of rectangular bits of white cloth from his pocket. Understanding dawned in the elder quincy's eye.

"The soul reaper Rukia Kuchki was taken by the Soul Society to be unjustly executed," explained Uryu. "I was there when they took her, but I was too weak to stop them. I know you told me I mustn't use the Sanrei glove until I understood my father and knew what I wanted to protect, but I needed more power if I was going to be any help rescuing her."

"There is no shame in what you did, Uryu. I am proud of you."

"But I disobeyed you," argued Uryu.

"You wanted to protect this soul reaper from an injustice," countered Soken. "And in doing so, you accomplished something I was never able to. Soul reapers and quincies working together in common purpose."

Uryu cast his gaze down and said, "I wasn't hte one who saved Rukia. While I was in the Soul Society, I met the man responsible for your death. I removed the glove and sacrificed my powers, but it was for nothing. I failed to avenge you, grandfather!"

"That does disappoint me, Uryu," he said as he rose to his feet. Uryu looked like he'd been slapped, but he kept his eyes down in supplication.

The old man formed a bow of luminous blue spirit energy. He pointed it down the path of the creek rather than toward Uryu. Drawing it back and forming the soul destroying arrow that defined the quincies, he spoke gently to Uryu.

"A quincy's arrow is released from the heart in the name of justice. The power we have been given is a great and terrible one. No other force in the universe destroys utterly the way our arrows do. That is a power that should never be wielded out of anger or fear. Our arrows should only ever be released in order to protect."

His bow turned toward a cluster of trees and he said, "That is why, despite the part you played in dissecting me, young lady, I will only release this arrow if you're here to harm my grandson."

My new invisibility cloak had a flaw. The material I used to block my spirit energy worked both ways. No one could sense me while I wore it, but I couldn't sense anyone else either. Stepping into full view, I could see it was a soul reaper I'd only ever seen sifting through Uryu's memories. Lieutenant Nemu Korutsuchi of squad 12 was the artificially created daughter of its evil mad scientist captain, Mayuri Korutsuchi. Nemu herself was an expressionless woman with black hair. Her uniform was modified to remove the pleated pants and turn the top into a neat, straight cut dress.

"I have no intention of harming anyone while I'm here," said Nemu blandly as she ignored the soul destroying quincy arrow aimed at her heart. "My purpose is to verify that Uryu Ishida has indeed lost his quincy abilities."

"Here to gloat?" asked Uryu.

"You misunderstand," said Nemu. "If you have lost your powers, I have been instructed to lend you power."

"What do you mean?" asked Uryu.

Nemu took out a rigid metal bracelet with a quincy cross dangling on a small, two ling chain. "This artifact has been in the possession of the Department of Research and Development for some time. Our understanding of the artifact is that it mimics the natural abilities of a quincy, allowing its user to draw reshi from the environment and form a bow to fight with."

Uryu accepted the artifact and put it on his wrist. His grandfather had neither released nor lowered his spirit arrow. Activating the artifact, Uryu was covered by a blue and white uniform. A simple metal bow was attached to his wrist. He drew it back, formed an arrow, and released, sending it along the river and causing hte water to part as it passed.

"Is that all?" asked the elder Ishida.

"I was instructed to pass on some additional information," said Nemu. "It is our conclusion that the bounts' goal is not to open a portal to Hueco Mundo. We believe they intend to open a portal to the Soul Society."

"The bounts?" asked Soken. "I thought their kind had died out."

"Almost," said Uryu. "There were only a handful left, and they've all gathered here in town."

"And you've gotten mixed up in this," said the elder quincy in a tone that expressed concern and resignation.

"There was someone I wasn't able to protect," said Uryu.

Soken lowered his bow, though he didn't take his eyes off Nemu. Then he explained, "The bounts are more than capable of opening a portal to the Soul Society on their own. Once they've consumed enough living human souls, it's a simple matter. But it is a gateway they cannot use. Bounts are physical beings and the Soul Society is a spirit world. They don't have the ability to convert matter into spirit particles."

"Our research indicates a quincy arrow fired through the center of the opened gate will stabilize it and allow the bounts to pass through," said Nemu.

"Not just any quincy's arrow," said Soken. "They need a quincy who has achieved reshi dominance, as you did with the final form."

"So as long as I don't fire an arrow through their gate, the bounts can't accomplish their plan," said Uryu.

"Instead, the bounts will remain in this world and continue to attack the people here," said Nemu. "It might be wiser to allow the bounts to enter the Soul Society. There, the captains and lieutenants of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads are able to do battle at full power, and our quincy abilities will be greater as well. Further, the Soul Society contains no living souls for the bounts to use to further augment their powers."

"You raise a good point," said Uryu. "I'll think about it."

Nemu bowed and left. When she was gone, Soken extended his hand out to Uryu and said, "The artifact. Give it to me."

Uryu deactivated the bracelet and handed it to his grandfather, saying, "I understand you don't think I'm worthy of quincy powers anymore, but-"

"I didn't take the artifact from you because I thought you weren't worthy, Uryu," interrupted Soken. "This tool will not last long in battle, and one day soon, the need for it will be much greater. Instead, I will restore your own abilities."

"Thank you, sensai," said Uryu.

"The process will be hard on you, and very dangerous," cautioned the old master. "You must be pushed to your absolute limits, both physical and spiritual. In the very instant that limit is reached, a fellow quincy must fire an arrow exactly nineteen millimeters to the right of your heart."

"I understand, sensai, and I'm willing to take that risk," said Uryu.

"Or we could go with plan B," I said, pulling off my invisibility cloak.

"Greed? What are you doing here?" asked Uryu.

"hen you left, I followed so you'd have some protection in case the bounts came after you," I said.

"Okay, and what's plan B?" asked Uryu skeptically.

"Mabashi, the bount I turned, has the ability to draw out a person's power," I said. "It involves you being temporarily possessed, and it might not work, but it sounds a lot safer than this."

"What do you think, sensai?" asked Uryu.

"The mthod I know is risky," admitted Soken. "Any mistake in timing or aim could be fatal. If your friends truly have a safer way, it would be wise to explore it. If it fails, my way will still be open to you, Uryu."

"Once my powers have been restored," started Uryu, "after the battle with the bounts is over, I'd like to train with you again, sensai."

"I will be proud to teach you all I know, Uryu," said Soken. "Now go. Meet with this bount. Perhaps this will be the start of a new peace with another old enemy of the quincies."

Uryu's grandfather reached out and hugged the young man. They parted and I led Uryu back to the rebuilt mansion.

* * *

Uryu and I weren't waiting outside the grounds long before Chad and Orihime came by and revealed the rebuilt mansion to Uryu. I explained the basics of the fideleous charm to Uryu and my hope that in an emergency, we could all use this place as a defensive fallback position. When we went inside and saw Mabashi seated on the stairs, I explained the unbreakable vow the bount was under.

"I've been meaning to ask, boss, when were you planning on stocking the pantry?" asked Mabashi. "Ordinarily, I wouldn't be so worried, but you made me promise not to hunt."

"Yoruichi was planning to head back to the Soul Society to do more research if we don't find Karia's new hideout soon," I said. "I'll have her pick up a crate of soul candies while she's there."

"Got a likely ETA on that?" asked Mabashi.

"Nope," I said. "I've got some emergency rations, but you're nowhere near an emergency."

"Emergency rations?" asked Uryu suspiciously.

"Before I came to this world, I was involve in a war against an army of dark wizards," I said. "I took a handful of enemy souls as spoils of war."

"That's... disturbing..." said Uryu.

"This coming from a guy who's powers destroy souls," I countered.

"Speaking of your quincy powers," said Mabashi, "are you ready for Riza to try and draw them out?"

"What exactly is involved?" asked Uryu.

"My Ritza will enter your body and take control of your actions," explained Mabashi. "Once she's in control, she'll make you draw your bow and fire an arrow. She can override the body's safety limits and push the people she possesses past them. After she's fired an arrow, I'll call Ritza back, and you should be able to use your powers again."

"All right," said Uryu. "Let's get started."

The three of us stepped outside and I transmuted an archery target in the yard. Mabashi called out his doll and used it to possess Uryu. Using Uryu's body, Ritza extended his right hand and the quincy cross dangling from his wrist began to glow blue. Sweat beaded on Uryu's forehead, though the possession prevented him from making any overt expressions of discomfort. After a long moment, a bow of blue energy erupted from the quincy cross on Uryu's wrist. Ritza made him draw the bow back, an arrow of blue spirit energy forming as he did so. The arrow was released and flew to the target which vaporized on impact.

"All right, Ritza, let him go," ordered Mabashi. Uryu collapsed to his hands and knees panting heavily as soon as the doll left his body.

Uryu pushed himself off the ground. Once he was standing again, I transmuted him a new target. The quincy steadied his breathing, formed a bow, and loosed an arrow, destroying the new target.

"Thank you," Uryu said to the bount.

* * *

Author's comments:  
During the original arc, Mabashi forced Rukia's powers to come out. It stood to reason the same technique could be made to get Uryu's powers working again. As to the bangle, Soken will be going into more detail on what he meant by that later on in the fic. Suffice it to say, quincy history will be coming up more than a little as I try to make sense of the various elements introduced in movies and filler.


	22. Chapter 24: Battle of Immortals

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 24) Battle of Immortals  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

While we waited for news about the bounts, Chad, Orihime, Uryu, Sloth, and I worked on the mansion. I used undetectable extension charms to expand each bedroom into an expansive suite. Sloth erected a number of greenhouses on the grounds and put her NEWT level herbology training to work, growing magical plants from the seeds we'd brought with us.

Uryu was put in charge of interior decorating, mostly in the hope that having something to do would help keep his mind off Yoshino. It was mostly successful. Orihime and Chad helped out however they could. Orihime seemed to get a kick out of commanding my automatons.

Sloth had safely transported the boiling cauldrons of polyjuice, veritasyrum, and felix felicis that we had begun brewing back in the old lab. It would still be weeks before the first two were done and months before the last was completed, but at least we wouldn't have to start over from scratch after moving labs. The red stones and philosopher's flowers had been less complicated to transport.

As one might expect, Loki was pleased with the big new yard he had to run around in. As I was still working out the best way to let Loki fight effectively against our powerful, invisible enemies, he'd be living the life of an ordinary dog until further notice.

Now that I was no longer living under ground, I replaced my nuclear power source with firefly creeper vines, the seeds of which I'd brought back with me from the Soul Society. They more than handled powering the growth lights for my philosophers' flowers, which I was still keeping under ground to minimize the risk of red water contamination. By the time the sun went down and I returned the humans to their homes via side along apparition, I was very satisfied with the work we'd done.

* * *

The next day at school, we exchanged information. Rukia, Renji, and the other soul reapers hadn't found a trace of the bounts. Yoruichi had returned to the Soul Society to try to get more information per the original plan. Humans were disappearing, but the mod souls weren't having any luck detecting them. Kiske was working on a new bount detector, but that would take time and there were no guarantees it would work better than the mod souls.

The plan was to divide into teams that evening and search on foot. It wasn't much, but the bounts' stealth abilities limited our options. My divination attempts didn't tell me anything about their location other than that it was tied strongly to their past.

Keigo and Tatski were filled in on our progress. We asked them to keep their eyes open and to call us if they saw any of the bounts, the blue bugs, or anything strange. Chad and Orihime told them about the mansion as a potentially safe place to go if anything happened.

After school, we met up in a park and divided into groups. Each group included a mod soul. Their detection abilities weren't perfect, but they were still the best we had.

Kon's group included Renji, Ganju, and Sloth. Kurodo's group had Uryu, Rukia, and Orihime. I divided myself in two, with my soul reaper self joining Chad and Noba and my homunculus self going with Ririn, Ichigo, and Hanataro.

After a few hours wandering around randomly, both groups I was in detected a spike in Renji and Ganju's spiritual pressure. Their group had found the enemy. Sloth was with them and was as well armed and well defended as I knew how to make her. My sympathies were with whatever bount had been stupid enough to attack them.

* * *

Ririn continued to try getting a fix on one of the bounts when Jinta and Ururu ran up to us carrying a box. They explained it contained the new bount detector Kiske made. There was apparently some sort of inside joke because Ichigo blushed and looked embarrassed when Jinta said Ichigo already knew how to use it. Ichigo was in soul reaper form, so I couldn't hear him, and could only see him with the Mad Eye. I wasn't far enough along with my lip reading practice to make out the activation phrase he used.

The detector itself was a golf ball sized red crystal situated in the forehead of a set of white, padded sparring headgear. When activated, the crystal yanked hard, forcefully pulling him by his head in the direction of the nearest bount. He had to run to keep from pulling a muscle in his neck. The rest of us followed. Jinta ad Ururu headed off elsewhere.

Ichigo led us to a construction site. Rounding the fense, there was a human lying face down with two of the blue bugs Karia created from Yoshino's death sucking something out of him like enormous mosquitoes. Ichigo sliced both bugs in half with a single swing of his zanpakto. An orange liquid shot out of the halves still impaling their victim.

Hanataro quickly got to work examining the victim. When he turned him slightly to examine him, I saw that it was Keigo. He was badly injured, clearly in a lot of pain, but still alive.

As Hanataro got out his healing kit, the bount who's presence Kiske's device detected stepped into view. It was Koga. He was wearing a sadistic smirk.

"It's funny," I said as I turned to face him, the Ultimate Shield slowly covering my body. "When I read your palm, it looked like you were going to survive this conflict. I guess we all make mistakes."

His smirk never leaving his face, Koga flicked a small ball bearing up, which expanded to the size of a soft ball. A green crest appeared on the metal orb and he said, "Zeiga dich, Dalk."

More metal spheres appeared out of thin air, linking and melding with one another until they took the form of a woman with her lower body replaced, centaur-like, with the body of an enormous insect. The doll's form had changed from when it fought Renji. Best guess was this was the result of the power up bounts got from consuming living souls.

I was in no mood to toy with this bount or his doll. Keigo was injured and Hanataro didn't need the distraction of a drawn out fight. I extended a finger toward Koga's heart and used the Ultimate Spear. My finger extended out in the blink of an eye. A normal human would have been pierced through the heart and the fight would have been over.

With his spirit energy enhancing his senses and reflexes, Koga saw my attack coming in time to attempt to dodge it. He was fast, but my Ultimate Spear was faster. Koga barely moved far enough to avoid being fatally impaled through his heart. My finger instead shot through his lung. When I withdrew it to its normal length, Koga was no longer smiling.

Ichigo rushed Dalk and engaged the doll in combat to draw her away from Keigo and Hanataro. I repeated my Ultimate Spear attack on Koga half a dozen times in a quarter of a second, but he dodged those with a flash step equivalent. With the red stones in my body, I was faster than him, but attacking at range was giving him too much time to read my attack and dodge.

I drew a hilt engraved with a transmutation circle from my utility belt. Flicking a switch, a crimson blade extended from one end and I rushed at Koga. The bount grabbed a steel I-beam and swung it at my head as I rushed in.

With my Ultimate Shield, that beam wouldn't have done any damage, but my time fighting as a soul reaper had retrained me into dodging attacks. I ducked below his swing. He'd anticipated the move and his knee was waiting to slam into my face as I ducked.

Koga's knee shattered against the Ultimate Shield and he leapt back, out of range of my alchemic blade. I shifted into a standing position and faced the bount as he stood some distance away, bleeding from his chest wound and keeping his weight on his one good leg.

"What are you?" asked Koga.

While fully covered by the Ultimate Shield, the carbon that made up my body formed diamond hard armor completely covering my body. I took on the appearance of a bald, grey skinned, lipless demon. I could still talk, but my mouth didn't move when I did. All in all, the effect was pretty unnerving, but having battled hollows for a thousand years, Koga wasn't easily intimidated by appearances.

"You're facing a real immortal," I said. "Call off your doll and surrender. You can't win."

Koga eyed me shrewdly, then hefted his I-beam like a bat, saying, "Come on."

I rushed in, determined not to flinch when he swung that beam at me. I'd take the hit and cut him down with my alchemic blade when it had no effect. I miscalculated.

Koga's swing hit my chest with an upward arc. Without my soul, the transmutation circles on my boots didn't stick me to the ground, and despite the added durability the Ultimate Shield granted, it didn't increase my mass. I was launched upward and slammed into the exposed beans of the partially completed building.

I wasn't hurt, but I was disoriented, and I ended up dropping my alchemic blade as I caught myself on a cross beam. Powered by an internal red stone and operated by a switch, my weapon didn't deactivate when it left my hand. The glowing red blade of light cleanly sliced through additional beams as it fell toward the ground. Koga caught it.

"I wonder," mused Koga, "will your own weapon be able to hurt you?"

The sections of building I was on had already been damaged. Using my alchemic blade, Koga cut through a key support and collapsed the section I was clinging to. Koga judged my fall accurately, positioned himself accordingly, and brought my alchemic blade up expertly. My head was severed in a single clean stroke before I hit the ground.

My body rose to a standing position and blue arcs of alchemic light danced around my neck. A wave of alchemic energy reconstructed my skull. The next wave applied muscle and soft tissue. The third wave that would normally regenerate skin and hair instead reapplied my Ultimate Shield.

"That was a good move," I admitted as I picked up my severed head and shoved my right hand down the neck, rummaging around inside. "You guessed right. That blade can cut through my Ultimate Shield. But nothing you can do an ever kill me." I retrieved the Mad Eye and wiped it on a cloth before inserting it back into my protected eye socket.

Now that I could see spirits again, I could see that Ichigo was in trouble. Dalk had caught him in a metal web, had disarmed him, and was preparing to run him through with his own zanpakto. I couldn't get to him in time. My only chance to save his life was to kill Koga now.

My Ultimate Shield and Ultimate Spear techniques were both specialized applications of a more general shape shifting ability homunculi had. My alchemically malleable body restructured itself to match my self-image using consumed red stones as fuel. I turned both of my arms into diamond edged blades and rushed Koga with all the speed I could muster.

A thousand years of combat experience combined with spirit energy enhanced reflexes let Koga get my alchemic blade up in time to sever my sword-arm that was aiming for his neck. It wasn't enough to block the nearly simultaneous blow from my second sword-arm that cleaved Koga's right arm off at the shoulder.

A spurt of blood shot from the open wound that had been Koga's shoulder socket. It was painful and debilitating, but it wasn't the instantly lethal blow I needed to save Ichigo's life. Ichigo turned out to not be as helpless as I thought. He caught the zanpakto, turned it around, and broke free of the web almost effortlessly.

Koga retreated to a safe distance as I regenerated my arm and took my alchemic blade from the grasp of Koga's severed arm. There was a toughness to this bount that had nothing to do with spirit energy. I could keep fighting despite wounds that severe, but I'd gone through a number of uniquely painful experiences in my life that even in a thousand years, Koga couldn't have matched.

I kept my organic eye on Koga as he maintained his distance. My enchanted false eye independently tracked Ichigo. The white of his eyes had turned black and his irises were now yellow. A white mask with red markings was forming over one side of his face. A demented, manic grin was on Ichigo's lips as he twirled his zanpakto by the strip of cloth on its handle and used it to attack Dalk like a flail.

The doll was outclassed and overwhelmed by the speed, power, and ferocity of Ichigo's attacks. Gripping his sword by its hilt, Ichigo impaled, then cut in half the metal body of the doll, laughing maniacally the whole time. Suddenly, Ichigo froze. Screaming something I couldn't lip read, Ichigo tore the partly formed mask off his face and collapsed to the ground.

Dalk pulled herself together and made a move toward Ichigo. I impaled the doll two dozen times with my Ultimate Spear. She didn't see it coming. In a blink, I was standing over Ichigo protectively.

"Dalk, return," ordered Koga. The doll sealed itself back into a metal ball, which flew to Koga's waiting hand. "This battle's over."

I let him go. Koga was now far more useful to me alive than he would be dead, and I needed to tend to my injured friends. Ichigo got to his feet. His eyes were back to normal, and there was no sign of his manic expression from a moment ago. I picked up Koga's severed arm.

"We'll talk about what happened later," I told Ichigo, indicating the partially formed hollow mask on the ground. "For now, let's see what we can do to help Keigo."

* * *

While my homunculus self battled Koga, my soul reaper self continued the search alongside Chad and Noba. Around the time I started sensing spikes in the spiritual pressure of the other groups, ours found the elderly bount Swatari seated in a peculiar looking char in an open field in the park.

"It is good to be young," declared the bount with relish. "Don't you agree?"

Chad got to the point, "Stop eating human souls!"

Swatari smiled, showing sharp teeth. "And if I refuse?"

"That wasn't one of your options," I said, drawing my zanpakto. "Bind, Tsumi no Rensa!" The sword in my hand transformed into a length of chain.

"If that's how you want it," said Swatari, grinning like mad. "Come out, Baura!" Swatari and his chair sunk beneath the ground.

"Off the ground!" I ordered as I leaped onto a nearby tree limb. Chad and Noba followed my lead.

"Dodge! Now!" ordered Noba, and t he three of us leapt out of the way as a massive fish like creature with a skin seemingly made of stone and a huge gaping maw came up from the ground and swallowed the tree we'd been standing on.

I twirled Tsumi no Rensa over my head and unlinked a chain link from the end of the chain length, launching it like a sling bullet at the whale sized doll. I didn't stop at one, re-adding a link to the end of the rapidly spinning chain and unlinking it at the proper point in its rotation. Chain links peppered my target as though fired from a machine gun.

Sparks flew from the points of impact as my metal chain links struck the doll's stone scales. The attack chipped the stone, but failed to penetrate the doll's armored body. Baura dove back into the ground.

"Greed," said Chad, "the doll needs a flat surface to emerge from. Ganju stopped it with his seppa."

"So, that's why he made all those sand pits," I said. "One patch of uneven ground coming right up." I stomped my foot and blue light crisscrossed the ground in a checkerboard pattern. Tiles of ground one foot on a side alternately rose or sank down. Chad and Noba joined me in the center of the safe zone my alchemy had created.

Standing back to back, we watched as the shadow of the doll visibly circled us outside the safe zone. I knew from experience things traveling underground don't leave a visible shadow on the surface, so whatever it was the doll was really doing, it likely wouldn't be effective to try and attack it before it surfaced. I did try transmuting a section of uneven ground directly in the shadow's path to see if it would have to turn and avoid it, but no such luck.

The doll backed off and built up speed for a flying leap. As it leapt, Chad fired a blast from his armored right arm. The blast went right into the doll's mouth and had no effect. I stomped my foot and raised a wall in Baura's path, but the sheer mass of the doll was unslowed by crashing through the barrier. We had to dodge again.

"The doll's mouth links to an alternate dimensional space," said Noba. "We won't be able to do any damage firing into it."

"The scales on its belly looked thinner," noted Chad. "We should concentrate our attacks there next time it emerges."

"If I could pinpoint the moment it was going to emerge, I could disrupt the landscape partway through," I said.

"I can detect it an instant before it happens," reported Noba. "Is that enough time?"

"It'll have to be," I said.

"I'll draw him out," volunteered Chad. Sprinting out of the safe zone, Chad kept his eyes down at his feet.

"Now!" said Noba, teleporting Chad back to safety.

The doll leapt straight up. My alchemy disrupted the flat surface as it was halfway out, but that didn't have the cutting in half effect I was hoping for. Apparently, the surface only needed to be even when the doll started to emerge.

Baura fell back to the ground and impacted the uneven surface. His weight flattened down the ground beneath him, but there was a brief opening to attack. The underbelly scales weren't available, but Chad threw an energy blast at the doll anyway. Quickly wrapping Tsumi no Rensa around my forearm, I extended two fingertips on each hand, drawing them back toward my core. Aiming for the same spot Chad had hit, I thrust both palms out, calling, "Hado 73: Soren Sokatsui!" A massive bolt of lightning from my palms slammed into the doll. Between Chad's blast and my kido, we'd blasted away the armored scales on that part of the doll. It sunk beneath the ground before we could capitalize on it.

"A full incantation would've killed it, but there's no way we can time it that well," I said.

A short distance away, the doll emerged halfway. Scales slid aside, revealing the bount riding within an armored compartment of his doll.

"Baura's scales can shift and rearrange themselves," said Swatari. "You've done no permanent harm. And if you think you're safe on that island..."

The doll's mouth opened, and the energy blast Chad had fired down the doll's throat came up and hurled toward us. Chad and Noba both leapt in opposite directions to evade the attack. I raised the arm Tsumi no Rensa was wrapped around and added links. Chad's blasts were powerful, but after most of that power was spent blowing appart a hundred layers of chain mail, the sleeve of my uniform wasn't even singed.

When the smoke cleared from my view, the bount and his doll were no longer in front of me. The doll had made a flying leap as the blast hit and was coming down on Chad, the least mobile member of our group. I called out the incantation for a summoning charm to try and yank Chad out of the way, but I was too late. Baura had swallowed him up and disappeared into the ground again.

"Chad!" gasped Noba when he realized what happened.

"That's one down," echoed Swatari's voice before he resurfaced on a chair made of Baura's stone scales. "Your friend is perfectly safe. Baura's belly is connected to an alternate dimension. I can leave him there, out of harm's way, for the time being. However, he won't be able to survive there for a long period of time."

"And if I kill you, access to that dimension becomes impossible," I said. "That's why you aren't hiding behind your doll's armor anymore."

"You're catching on," said Swatari, standing up.

"Noba, can you get Chad back?" I asked, sealing my zanpakto into its sword form and pointing it at the bount.

"Not just like that," said Noba.

"All right," I said. "I didn't want to use this spell, but you've left me no choice. Imperio!"

Swatari's eyes flicked back and forth as the curse took effect. "Baura, release him," ordered Swatari once his mind was under my control.

"Boss?" asked the doll.

Swatari's eyes flicked more violently before he closed htem, shook his head, and looked at me. "Attacking my mind? You have no idea how resilient a mind has to be to handle immortality."

"Greed, we need to talk privately," said Noba, teleporting us to the roof of a nearby building, away from the bount. "I have a plan to get Chad back. I didn't want the bount to hear."

"What've you got?" I asked.

"The bount and I both create alternate dimensions with spiritual pressure. If I can surround him with my dimension, I can move the objects inside around at will, theoretically including the objects in his dimension."

"There must be a catch or you'd have one it by now," I noted.

"He can resist just being swept up," said Noba. "I need him lured directly in front of me where my powers are strongest."

"Okay," I said. "I'll be the bait for that. I'll even let him swallow me to make it look good."

"What? That's insane," said Noba.

"No, it's a backup plan," I replied. "If your plan works, you can get us both out. If something goes wrong, I can search his dimension for Chad and try to escape with hm using my own teleportation powers."

"Are you sure?" asked Noba.

I nodded. "We don't know how long Chad has in there. We should get to it."

Noba and I returned to the park with another use of his mod soul abilities. I planted my feet and began a kido chant. With a plausible excuse for why I was standing still, Baura took the bait. Noba teleported directly behind me and braced. Swatari realized it was a trap mid-leap, but the massive doll had no midair maneuverability. I stopped chanting and leapt into the doll's gaping mouth.

There was no gravity in the bount's alternate dimension. It was dark, and the air was thin. My spirit energy was fading, drawn out of my body by the spiritual vacuum that was this dimension. I wasn't losing power very fast, but it was fast enough to be noticeable. If I took too long to find Chad, I'd be too weak to get us out.

"Accio branch," I said, summoning a tree branch from one of the random clusters of floating debris. There wasn't enough spirit energy in the air for me to form midair footholds using hte soul reaper technique, and the thin air wasn't close enough to anything I'd worked with before for the transmutation circles on my boots to be of any use. Instead, I laid a rudimentary broomstick enchantment on the tree limb.

A good flying broom takes time and effort to craft, starting with high quality wood and bristles, layering enchantments for speed, safety, maneuverability, and comfort. It was precision engineering that saw professional firms competing against one another to perfect. What I made with the slap-dash enchantment was a dangerous, jerky, difficult to maneuver, single speed mess that would probably never get off the ground if I was flying in the real world. But here, in this gravity free void with occasional clusters of debris, it did the job of allowing me to propel myself as I searched for Chad.

Once I'd managed my makeshift broom, I drew my wand, cast "Lumos!" to cause a bright beam of light to project from the tip, and began searching for Chad. Ambient air meant neither of our voices would carry far, so I was left checking visually in the narrow strips of wandlight I used to cut through the darkness. More concerning was the fact that I had to search at all, which meant Noba's plan had somehow failed, and he was now alone with the bount.

I found Chad near the third cluster of debris. He didn't notice me until I'd dropped my broomstick and put my hands on his broad shoulders. He held up one of his hands between us, showing that he was holding one of the portkeys back to Urahra's shop.

"The portkeys don't work here," he said.

"Don't worry," I said. "I have a couple other tricks to try."

The risks inherent in opening the Gate made that a last resort. Instead, I held on tight to Chad and attempted to apparate. I felt the familiar compression of my body as I was squeezed into nothingness then allowed to re-expand back into existing at my destination. Whatever the dimension inside Baura's belly was, it was possible to apparate out of, but it was considerably more difficult than apparating normally.

Chad had arrived intact at the park we'd started in. Taking inventory of my body, I swore. I'd splinched myself, cleanly severing my right leg at the hip and leaving it behind in the alternate dimension. I wasn't bleeding as badly as that injury should have implied. Another advantage of the damage reducing effects of spirit energy.

Noba was lying on the ground. His shirt was torn open and he looked like he had suffered some broken ribs. Chad went to check on him.

"How did you escape Baura's alternate dimension?" demanded Swatari. He was seated on a half emerged Baura a short distance from us.

"Not as well as I'd have liked," I said, getting into a sitting position. "Would you mind having your doll spit up my leg so I can reattach it?"

"I don't think I'll be doing that," said Swatari. "Still, if Baura can't keep you down long enough to be digested, there's no point in me staying here." The bount and his doll slid beneath the ground and were gone.

* * *

Back at Urahara's shop, we tended to our injuries and compared notes. Hanataro had been able to keep Keigo stable despite having had most of his soul sucked out by the bounts' bugs. Sloth used her wish provided powers to fully heal Keigo while Orihime used her abilities to restore my soul reaper self's severed leg. Noba was put into his stuffed animal body while Kiske made repairs to his gigai.

Orihime, Uryu, Rukia, and Kurodo had encountered and defeated the bount Yoshi. My prediction that she'd be destroyed by a quincy arrow proved true. Sloth, Renji, Ganju, and Kon had met up with a swarm of the blue bugs attacking people.

"When Renji damaged a few, more swarmed in," said Sloth. "It was some kind of swarming instinct. We headed for someplace isolated and I had Renji and Ganju keep damaging them so we could lure then all in to us."

"I still can't believe I agreed to that plan," said Renji.

"It worked, didn't it?" argued Ganju.

"Anyway," continued Sloth, "once they stopped coming, I gave the others fireproofing potions and blew the bugs up with flame alchemy."

"You're going to need to give me the recipe for that potion," noted Ganju. "It'd be really handy to make the Shiba clan fireworks effective at close range."

"The good news is we're down one bount, and we've destroyed most, if not all of the soul sucking bugs Karia killed Yoshino for," summarized Uryu. "They'll likely be more cautious now, which on the one hand means less people being attacked in the short run, but in the long run makes it harder for us to find and deal with the remaining bounts."

"That won't be a problem," I said, holding up the bloody sack that held Koga's severed arm. "I can use this to find their hideout."

"Another foreign kido?" asked Rukia.

"No," I said. "I have a dog that's trained to track by scent."

"The what are we waiting for?" asked Ichigo.

"Hold on," said Urahra. "Like Uryu said, with the losses the bounts have taken tonight, they'll be lying low for a while, which means there's no immediate danger. There's no point heading out before everyone's had a good night's sleep and something to eat."

"He's right," I said. "We don't want to go to their hideout in anything less than top form. Which reminds me, now would probably be a good time to talk about what happened in the fight with Koga."

"What happened?" asked Orihime.

Ichigo took a deep breath and said, "I'm turning into a hollow."

The room went silent. Ichigo adamantly held his gaze down at his lap while the rest ofus looked on with concern. Hanataro was the first to break the silence.

"It's been progressing for a while. In the Soul Society, a mask like the one I saw tonight formed inside Ichigo's uniform. It saved his life by blocking what would have been a fatal blow."

"It did the same thing later, in my fight with Kenpachi," said Ichigo, his eyes still turned down. "Then, when I was fighting Byakuya, it formed over my face and it took over my body, just like what happened tonight. I was able to rip it off both times, but..."

"It's okay," I said. "Kiske's the expert on hollowfication. He can help."

"He already knows about it," said Ichigo. "He was there when it happened."

All eyes turned to Urahara. The shopkeeper's eyes were shadowed beneath the brim of his bucket hat. He sounded remorseful when he spoke.

"The process of restoring Ichigo's soul reaper powers didn't go smoothly. His chain of fate fully eroded during the training, and he started to hollowfy before he was able to grasp the soul reaper power inside himself."

"I don't regret doing what I had to do to get my powers back," said Ichigo, "and I'm grateful to Kiske for making that possible. I never would have succeeded in the Soul Society without his help, whatever happens next."

"You idiot!" yelled Rukia. "Do you think I wanted you to get yourself hurt because of me?"

"I already told you in the Soul Society," said Ichigo, looking at Rukia with intense eyes. "I came to rescue you because I wanted to."

"There has to be something you can do for him," said Renji.

Kiske sighed. "I've already done everything I know how to do. Ordinarily, when a soul reaper undergoes hollowfication, the barrier between soul reaper and hollow dissolving leads to the breakdown of the barrier between the soul and the outside world. The soul self destructs. In the past, I've been able to stabilize hollowfied soul reapers using the hogyoku to produce a vaccine derived from human souls and quincy arrows. I checked Ichigo shortly after he first showed signs of hollowfication, but he didn't show any signs of instability."

"Well he has now!" said Ganu. "What are you going to do about it?"

"My experience is limited to keeping the soul from self destructing," said Kiske. "Ichigo's in no danger of that. As to the risk that his inner hollow will take him over and destroy everything he holds dear, that's a battle no one can fight for him."

"What happened to the soul reapers you helped before?" I asked.

"Do you think hearing the answer will make a difference?" asked Kiske.

"It doesn't," said Ichigo. "I don't care if they succeeded or failed. I'm not going to let the hollow inside me take over."

"Then you have your answer," said Kiske.

"We'll meet back here after school tomorrow and hit the bount hideout then," said Sloth. "Everyone get some rest."

* * *

Author's comments:  
The cat's out of the bag regarding Ichigo's hollowfication problem. The fact that his friends already know about it is going to make getting help for it down the line a less painful process.


	23. Chapter 25: The Bounts' Cave

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 25) The Bounts' Cave  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Back at the mansion, Sloth and I disappeared into our suite. We hung up our utility belts and decided to sit together on a loveseat near the balcony. It was a clear night full of stars.

"Is that something that can happen to you?" asked Sloth.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "At least, not unless it's done on purpose. Normally, once you're a soul reaper, you're immune to becoming a hollow. Ichigo wasn't a soul reaper yet when he started turning into a hollow. It was a freak accident. The whole point of the hogyoku was to find a way to hollowfy people who were already soul reapers."

"Why would anyone want that?" asked Sloth.

"Soul reapers and hollows both have limits on how strong they can get," I explained. "A hybrid can draw strength from both sources, potentially becoming stronger than would be possible by just remaining one or the other. In the long run, this might benefit Ichigo if he can find a way to control it."

"The way Ichigo described it," said Sloth. "It possessing him. It sounds like what being a witch was like."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I offered.

"The witch you fought was a separate person," said Sloth, staring at the stars. "I was like a voice in the back of its mind. It hurt people, lashed out."

"It did not hurt anyone," I said firmly.

"It tried to hurt you," said Sloth. "I was... I was too deep in my depression to try and fight back. I couldn't do what Ichigo did. Summon the resolve to make it stop."

"I wonder," I said. "You were burried under all that grief. If something could reach the part of you that was still yourself under there and give you an emotional boost..."

"I don't want to test it," said Sloth. "It was the worst suffering I've ever been through, and I never want to go through that again if I can help it."

"You won't have to," I promised.

It wasn't a promise I knew how to keep. I'd come to this world by trusting in the infinite knowledge of the Gate to find a world where I could get help. Orihime's powers had been able to reverse Sloth's witch transformation, but the head of the Soul Society's Department of Research and Development had apparently never seen powers like Orihime's before. Recording devices in Sloth's reigai no doubt would be able to provide clues, but all the data was being sent to the Department of Research and development. As usual, when we'd gotten home, we'd ditched the recording equipment, Sloth's reigai and my badge, so we could talk freely.

"Sloth," I said, "when we were in Kyubey's world, before you made your contract, you said you liked the idea of staying nad using your powers to fight monsters and protect people."

"I did," she said, unhappily.

"How do you feel about staying in this world?" I asked. "Hollows are a threat that isn't going away, and even with the soul reapers, they're going to need all the help they can get."

"What brought this on?" asked Sloth.

"If I kill Mayuri Kurotsuchi with two hundred of his squad members watching, I'll be made captain of the twelfth division and get access to all the Department of Research and Development's resources."

"You've been down that path before," said Sloth. "You became a State Alchemist for access to their library."

"I was pretty happy in the military," I said. "And as a captain, I'd have a lot of authority. I might be able to do a lot of good. Even if not, killing Mayuri alone would make the Soul Society a better place."

"And if they order another genocide?" asked Sloth.

"Then I'll disobey and become a fugitive again," I said. "Kiske got away just by coming to the world of the living and keeping his head down. We know how to run to places they can't follow."

"It sounds like you've made up your mind," said Sloth.

"I guess I have," I said.

"What can I do to help?" asked Sloth.

"The fight has to be one on one," I said, talking it out. "I think I'll have a good opportunity when the bounts head to the Soul Society. I have a transfiguration spell in mind that should neutralize his shikai's special ability, and a beozar ought to buy me enough time to brew a proper antidote for his bankai's poison.

"What I'll need help with is making sure two hundred of his squad members see it happen. If that part doesn't happen, they'll execute me as a traitor instead of promoting me to captain."

"I think I can manage that," said Sloth. "The Department of Research and Development has cameras that work in a high reshi environment. I can break in, set up a live broadcast, and make sure they're all watching. Ichinose could do it, and I'm better than him in every way."

"More motivation for me to win," I noted. "If they do capture you as a research subject, I'll need to be able to order them to let you go."

"You're the one who's getting into a fair fight with a soul reaper captain," said Sloth. "I'm going to be perfectly safe."

"I plan to do everything in my power to keep this from being a fair fight," I promised.

* * *

At Urahara's shop the next day, there were some unexpected additions to our strike force. Captain Hitsugaya of squad ten had assembled and dispatched four soul reapers to aid us. Lieutenant Rangiku Masumoto was a well endowed woman with long, wavy hair. She was Hitsugaya's own lieutenant. Izuru Kira was a blond, dour faced young man who was the lieutenant of squad three. Lieutenant Shuhei Hisagi of squad nine had black hair and the number 69 tattooed on his left cheek. The only non-lieutenant was fifth seat of squad eleven, Yumichika Ayasegawa, who'd been part of the group that broke me out of the fourth division's prison.

"I didn't think captains had the authority to order around members of other squads," I noted as our party followed Loki out of town wherever the bounts were hiding.

"Since our squads are currently without captains," said Izuru, "another captain can step in and issue orders if they see a need for it."

"Your captain's still here, right, Yumichika?" asked Orihime.

"My captain issued a request through Captain Zaraki," said Rangiku. "Everything we've heard so far about these bounts says it would be a mistake to underestimate them. That's why we have four lieutenants on hand."

"I should warn you," said Yumichika. "I've never been very good fighting in a group."

"That's all right," said Ganju. "You weren't all that good one on one either."

"Wait a minute," said Shuhei. "You lost to this guy?"

"We're here," reported Uryu, silencing the chatter.

My trusty dog had led us to the entrance to a large cave. It had the spirit energy blocking mineral composition. I got to one knee and petted Loki. Then I pressed my substitute badge to my chest. Homunculus me continued petting my good dog while soul reaper me stood up and joined the others.

"I'll watch Loki and guard the exit," said homunculus me.

Everyone else went inside. Soon, we noticed the floating eye creatures that were by process of elimination, part of Ugaki's doll watching us. Uryu drew his bow and aimed an arrow at the nearest eye.

"Tell Karia we're coming for him," said Uryu. Then he released his arrow and destroyed the eye.

We came to a part of the cave that had been worked by tools. Pillars extended from floor to ceiling. That was where we encountered the first trap. Enormous spears threatened to impale Shuhei and Yumichika, who were in the lead. They got their zanpakto up in time to block. Ichigo severed the spears at their base, but was caught by a rope trap that dragged him to the ceiling. Rangiku cut hm down just before a massive fist rose up from the ground to crush him.

"The shadows!" said Uryu.

As he mentioned it, it was obvious. The floating eye creatures were projecting beams of light like flashlights. The traps were generated out of nowhere,always in a shadow cast by one of their lights. Uryu destroyed the eyes and the traps around us vanished.

"You've figured it out," echoed Ugaki's voice through the cave. "You can't destroy all of them, though."

A hundred floating eyes appeared, casting a thousand shadows using the pillars. I stomp[ed my foot and smoothed out the cave with alchemy. In a burst of blue light, there were no pillars, no stalagmites, no stalactites. Sloth clapped her hands, taking care of the other half of the problem by blowing up all of their eyes with flame alchemy. It was a good thing the added damage resistance spirit energy afforded us applied to burst eardrums.

"You think you're clever, do you?!" yelled Ugaki's voice. "First you destroy my precious bittos and now you wipe away a thousand years of history like it's nothing!"

"If you didn't want it destroyed, you shouldn't have used it to attack us with!" yelled Ririn back.

"Let's see how clever you are when you face Gesel's true form!" yelled Ugaki.

More of the eye creatures appeared and lined up with one another so one cast the light and another interrupted the beam to make a shadow. The shadow's converged on a single point where the upper body of a gigantic, eyeless humanoid rose up. It was fast as well as strong, throwing a backhand that caught Shukei mid leap and slammed him into a stone wall, which crumbled from the impact.

Uryu tried shooting down the eyes casting the shadows, but Ugaki was able to replace them as fast as Uryu destroyed them. Orihime managed to block a punch from the creature while Chad fired off a blast at the thing's mid section. That stunned the creature momentarily, just long enough for those of us with zanpaktos to release our shikai.

Sloth had rushed to Shuhei's side to heal him and bring him back into the fight. Ruki and Rangiku joined Uryu in trying to destroy the eyes, Rukia with kido and Rangiku with her zanpakto Heinako's special ability of turning its blade into ash and cutting whatever the ash touched. Yumichika leapt at the doll's eyeless face and was punched hard into the ground for his effort.

"Everyone get back," ordered Renji. "I'll deal with this thing and you don't want to get in my way. Bankai!" A wave of spirit energy rolled off the lieutenant, and his zanpakto had transformed into a giant, skeletal snake with a mane of red hair. "Hihio Zabemaru!"

The massive snake clashed with the giant doll. The doll's hands turned to spears and axes, but Renji demonstrated he could protect his bankai by separating its vertebrae, leaving them connected only through a cord of spirit energy. The two giant constructs clashing was not doing good things for the stability of the cave. Chunks of the ceiling began collapsing.

Renji separated the vertebrae of his zanpakto and levitated them. Turning them so their spines faced inward, he reinforced those spines with his spirit energy, then shot the vertebrae at Gesel. The doll roared in pain and flailed about after the multiple impaling wounds. As it did so, a wall collapsed, revealing Ugaki. Gesel turned and reached out for the bount, who panicked and screamed for it to stop.

Sloth and I each threw our weapons at one of the doll's arms and held it back from killing Ugaki. Sloth reinforced the yo-yo strings wrapping her arm with her magic, causing them to glow red. I wrapped my end of the chain around my waist so I could keep holding the doll back and use my hands at the same time.

"What are you doing?" demanded Renji. "Get out of the way so I can finish it off!"

I tossed a pair of manacles at Ugaki and yelled, "Put them on! Quick! I don't know how much longer we can hold him!"

"Are they saving the bount?" asked Izuru incredulously.

Ugaki, facing certain death if he didn't, snapped the spirit energy sealing manacles on his wrists. The doll vanished in an instant. Unfortunately, the damage the cave had taken was already too much, and the ceiling began to collapse in earnest. Part of the cave roof struck me square on the head, knocking me unconscious.

When I came to, the cave was back to normal. Sloth's alchemy was no doubt responsible. She, Orihime, and Hanataro were tending to the injured. Ichigo and Uryu were nowhere to be seen.

"You're okay," said Sloth. "Everyone but Ichigo took some hits when the roof collapsed. He went on ahead. Uryu followed as soon as he was healed."

"Those two should be fine," I said, getting up. I joined Sloth and the others healing the remaining injured.

Once everyone was revived, we proceeded down the cave. In a chamber that suggested prior habitation a very long time ago, Ichigo and Uryu were standing in front of a rectangular portal. The remaining bounts were nowhere to be found. Ichigo was in the tight black long coat and wielding the thin black blade that was his bankai.

"What happened?" asked Rukia.

"I fought Karia," said Ichigo. "Even with my bankai, he was so strong."

"So, I used my arrow to stabilize their senkaimon," said Uryu.

"Why would you do that?" asked Renji. "That was their plan."

"By taking this fight to the Soul Society, we'll all be able to fight at our best," said Uryu. "It was always the backup plan in case it didn't look like we were going to win here."

"Is that gate safe to follow them with?" asked Sloth.

"I'll need to call ahead and make some arrangements," said Rangiku, "but their senkaimon should work for us just as well as it did for them."

"I'll go drop our prisoner off with the other me," I said, taking hold of Ugaki, who was still chained up. "Be back in a flash." Then I flash stepped away.

I synchronized memories with my homunculus self when I handed over Ugaki. It made explanations much quicker. When I returned to the still open gate, everyone was ready. We stepped through into the dangai, and proceeded on to the Soul Society.

* * *

Back at the mansion, I dropped Ugaki in the dungeon, then took Loki with me on a walk to Urahara's shop. Now that the fighting had moved to the Soul Society, the situation was out of my hands. All I could do was hope for the best and try not to dwell on it.

"I'd have thought you'd go with the others to the Soul Society," said Kiske.

"My soul went," I said. "He has all the powers that actually work in spirit worlds. My enhanced strength and speed and my immunity to dying work on the other side, but my regeneration and shape shifting don't. Add to that I don't have the enhanced reflexes to make use of my speed, and there's not much point in me being there."

"So, what can I do for you?" asked Kiske.

"I ordered a crate of soul candies. I wanted to know if they've arrived yet. I have three bount prisoners to feed now."

"They arrived this morning," said Urahara. "The lieutenants dropped them off."

"Excellent," I said. "While I'm here, do these soul reapers look familiar to you?"

"Afraid not," said Kiske, taking the photo I offered. "Who are they?"

"I'm not sure," I said. "They showed up in my foeglass recently, which means they're enemies. Based on the distance and clarity, they'll be ready to make their move inside a week."

"This green armor they're wearing looks pretty distinctive," mused Kiske. "It'd probably be your best shot at figuring out who they are. Once this bount crisis is over, I can try to look into it."

"I'd appreciate it."

* * *

Author's comments:  
The Soul Society's history of genocides isn't something Greed likes. Taking prisoners like this has been his way of ensuring he won't be a party to this newest genocide.


	24. Chapter 26: Rukia Dies

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 26) Rukia Dies  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

The bounts' senkaimon opened in the west Rukon district, well away from the Seireitei. Rangiku's call ahead allowed Yoruichi to get there ahead of us. The members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads headed back to the Seireitei to check in. The rest of us followed Ganju to Kukaku Shiba's house. It had moved since the last time we came to the Soul Society. Yoruichi explained the situation to Kukaku.

"Given where the bounts emerged, it's very likely they'll still be hiding out somewhere in the west Rukon District," concluded Yoruichi. "I hate to impose, but it would be a big help if we could base our investigation here."

"It's the least I could do, since my idiot brother couldn't keep things from escalating this far," said Kukaku.

"I appreciate it," said Yoruichi. "We should get started on our search right away. While you're out, I'd like all of you to try and find information on a person named Ran Tao. From what I've been able to find out, he was the scientist who originally created the bounts."

"Are you saying this Ran Tao person is still alive?" asked Ichigo.

"I haven't been able to confirm it," said Yoruichi. "Still, there have been rumors, and if we can find him, he'll be able to answer a lot of questions about the bounts, what they may be after, and how to stop them."

The mod souls were still the only ones who could sense the bounts' spiritual pressure, but in the Soul Society, we had advantages we didn't have in the world of the living. In the world of the living, the bounts had a thousand years of experience blending in, building wealth, and establishing safe houses and bolt holes. Here, they were ryoka, strangers in a land mistrustful of strangers. By contrast, soul reapers were the law. We could act openly while the bounts would have far more trouble hiding than they were used to.

Sloth and I had experience traveling together and investigating. We left the mod souls with the others and headed out on our own, planning to meet back up at Kukaku Shiba's house that evening and compare notes. As we went town to town, we split up. I would talk to people officially, using the influence my soul reaper uniform brought me while Sloth asked around unofficially. By implying she was racing me to contact the ryoka or find Ran Tao, we were able to speak to both the law abiding and criminal elements of the towns we visited.

There was a lot of talk about soul reapers being attacked by ryoka. The search parties the Seireitei sent out looking for the bounts were being targeted. Further, the bounts had apparently defeated a pair of lieutenants shortly after their arrival. The lieutenants were badly injured, but had been left alive. The bounts' power in the Soul Society apparently grew more than ours did.

Most of the attacks were in the area closest to the Seireitei. It was only a matter of time before they attempted to breach one of the gates. So, before returning to Kukaku's house, I took out a large piece of parchment and worked a series of spells on it. Once I was done, I folded it up, pocketed it, then apparated to the west gate. From there, Sloth and I had a race to see which of us could circumnavigate the Seireitei first.

* * *

Once back at Kukaku's house, I laid the parchment out on the table to show the others what I had created.

"It's... a circle," said Ichigo, confused.

"What are you talking about? It's a map of the Seireitei," said Ganju. "You know, like the one we used when we went to rescue Rukia."

"We never used your crappy map," said Ichigo.

"Ganju's right," I said. "It is a map of the Seireitei," I said.

"Strange minds think alike," snarked Uryu.

I rolled my eyes, then explained. "It's obviously incomplete now. I've laid some spells on it so it'll fill in on its own whenever I carry it through a part of the city."

"Wow, that sounds really useful," said Orihime.

"But what does it have to do with finding the bounts?" asked Chad.

"Look around the edge," said Sloth. "Do you seeall those labeled dots? Those are the names and locations of all the people in that area. The map shows them in real time."

"How can we tell the bounts from everyone else?" asked Ichigo.

"We can zoom in on a specific area," I said, demonstrating. We could see the soul reapers and the zanpaktos they carried separately labeled as they moved in and out of the west gate. "If they make a move on the Seireitei, we'll know no matter where we are at the time."

As we looked, a dot larger than the others inked in red moved through the gate. It was labeled with the names of Maki Ichinose and Nijigasumi. The dot vanished a few steps inside the gate as Ichinose entered a part of the area I hadn't mapped. The bolding and different color was a feature I added to the map to make it easier to track specific targets. I'd given the map all the names of the ryoka. It was a feature that was paying off.

"We have to alert the Seireitei," said Yoruichi.

"You can use my soul phone," I said, handing it over.

"I should've grabbed the Mad Eye before we left," said Sloth. "None of you could use it without losing an eye, but this is just a reigai I'm using."

"We have a couple of secrecy sensors," I suggested.

Grabbing the antenna-like devices from the pouches on her utility belt, Sloth quickly handed them over. I turned on the spot and apparated to the gates. Sloth and I each carried two secrecy sensors. One primary and one backup, just like with our invisibility cloaks. That meant we had just enough to cover each gate. I explained how to use the dark detectors as I handed them out to the gate guardians.

After that, there wasn't anything more we could do, so we settled in and got some rest.

* * *

The next morning, we awoke to Byakuya Kuchki, captain of squad six and head of the Kuchki clan, one of the Soul Society's four great noble houses, slamming open a door. There was a look of raw, frenzied panic on his face. He ignored everyone else and rushed over to Sloth's side.

"They killed Rukia," said Byakuya. "Can you bring her back?"

Sloth snapped to attention at that, took out a Grief Seed and purified her Soul Gem. Once the crystal was shining as brightly as possible, Sloth held it out and in a flash, Rukia was in the room with us, blinking in confusion. Byakuya had his arms around Rukia in an instant, squeezing her tight to assure himself she was really there."

"Brother?" asked Rukia even more confused. "What's going on? How did I get here?"

"Karia sent an assassin," said Byakuya. "You were cut down while you slept, right in the middle of the Kuchki estate."

"I was dead?" asked Rukia. "I feel great."

"My powers revive someone into a state of perfect health," said Sloth, handing her Soul Gem and the filled Grief Seed to Orihime, who called on her rika to empty the grief from both.

"Karia will pay for this," said Byakuya as he stood and went to leave.

"Ichinose's the one who did the deed," I noted.

"Karia gave the order," noted Byakuya, his mask of aloof indifference settling back onto his features now that Rukia was all right.

"You know he's baiting you," said Yoruichi.

"The captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads have been ordered to eliminate these ryoka," said Byakuya. "That is what I intend to do." He turned his head toward Sloth, said, "Thank you," then flash stepped away.

I took a small glass top out of my utility belt, identical to the one sitting on the night stand in the room with us, and handed it to Rukia.

"It's called a sneakoscope," I explained. "If anyone untrustworthy gets near it, it spins and puts out a lot of noise and light. Hopefully, it'll keep anything like this from happening again."

"Thanks," said Rukia, still a little unsteady.

* * *

Kukaku'd had members of her household keep watch on the map all night. They reported that Ichinose'd managed to slip out hte north gate in the night. I asked her for the exact time. When the others left to resume the search, Sloth and I took Rukia aside.

"Do you want to be the one to kill Ichinose?" I asked her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"We have the ability to go back in time," said Sloth. "We know where and when Ichinose left the Seireitei last night. Greed and I are going to be there waiting for him."

"He killed you," I said, "so if you wanted first crack at him, I figure you should have the chance."

"What do I have to do?" asked Rukia.

"Don't cross your time stream," I said. "Until we get back to now, avoid the Kuchki house, Kukaku's place, or anywhere you might be seen. Other than that, just wrap this chain around your waist and I'll get us when we need to be."

We arrived just outside the north gate. Sloth hid under her invisibility cloak. Rukia drew her sword. I began a kido chant. Timing it precisely, I finished with, "Noren Mekuri," stripping away the illusion before me as Shunshi had once done to me. Ichinose was exposed, and his eyes were wide with surprise seeing Rukia.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki," called out Rukia. The temperature dropped dramatically as her sword turned pure white and grew a long white ribbon from its hilt.

"You're dead," said Ichinose in disbelief. "I killed you."

"You won't get the chance to try again," said Rukia, rushing forward. "Sode no mai, Tsukishiro!" Rukia slashed her zanpakto low. A perfect circle of white light formed under her feet, which erupted upward, freezing a tall column of air.

Ichinose managed to flash step backward in time to avoid the attack. Raising his zanpakto, he called out, "Flash and burst, Nijigasumi!" Blindlingly bright light shone from his blade. I sensed an attack and brought Tsumi no Rensa up to block. As blades clashed, my vision cleared, revealing it was Rukia who's sword I'd blocked.

I dropped the chant and viciously clawed hte air with my left hand, again incanting, "Noren Mekuri!" My kido tore away the light Ichinose was using to disorient us.

Now able to see her target, Rukia stabbed the ground, causing a sliver of white ice particles to rise up from it. Four total times she pierced the ground. Then she thrust her zanpakto toward Ichinose, calling out, "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" A blast of cold from the tip of Rukia's zanpakto flash froze everything in front of her. Ichinose tried to dodge and succeeded in getting out of its direct path, but underestimated how wide the blast was, and found himself encased in ice.

The flash freezing rendered Ichinose's flesh brittle, and when the horizontal column of ice encasing him cracked and broke apart, his body cracked and broke apart as well.

"I was probing his mind during the fight," said Sloth, pulling off her cloak and coming up to us. "Karia's gathering an army in a place called Kusajishi."

"And we can't go tell the others for hours," lamented Rukia. "Do you have enough invisibility cloaks for all three of us to go scout the area?"

Sloth tossed Rukia the cloak she'd been wearing and pulled out her spare. I picked up Ichinose's broken sword and slipped it into one of my utility belt's pouches. Once a zanpakto has bonded iwth a soul reaper enough that it can achieve shikai, it can never be wielded by anyone else as anything more than a mere sword, so Nijigasumi was useless to me as a weapon. The only thing I could really use it as was proof of Ichinose's death, which I suspected might come in handy.

* * *

Kusajishi was the poorest, most lawless part of the Rukon District. It was a wretched place where people led short, brutal lives. Lacking spirit energy, the people here couldn't starve, but illness, exposure to the weather in substandard housing, and the everyday violence were all just as bad for people in the Soul Society as they were in any other world. The people dressed in rags and didn't have shoes.

The handful of wooden huts weren't nearly enough to house the crush of humanity filling the overcrowded streets. At first, I took this as just another sign of the miserable conditions before I realized this was Karia's army. In a day, he'd gotten the poor and downtrodden to travel from neighboring districts to hear what he had to say. More were still arriving. Rukia, Sloth, and I moved among them under our invisibility cloaks, eavesdropping on their conversations.

A lot of the people here were relatively recent arrivals to the Soul Society. They still remembered the lives they led in modern cities with effective police forces and indoor plumbing. There were former thugs and gang members, but there were also former engineers and scientists. Everyone had been forced to toughen up to survive, but the ones who's lives had been easiest in the world of the living were the ones who held the most resentment at having found themselves transformed into neglected peasants.

Karia was tapping into a very real and frankly perfectly understandable resentment. Having a common leader helped mobilize these people and galvinize them into action, but unless the Soul Society dealt with the systemic problems that were building this resentment, eliminating Karia would, at best, kick the can down the road on this rebellion.

The most damning thing of all was that the soul reapers and the noble houses weren't fools for failing to address these issues. In a normal world, inequalities far less extreme than these could and had resulted in the peasants rising up and putting the severed heads of their former rulers on pikes. The spirit energy that defined the soul reapers granted them such overwhelming power and durability compared to the peasants that any such rebellion was doomed from the start. Just as Tatski discovered when she hit Renji, there were just no options for injuring soul reapers of a certain level without some form of power of your own.

As a being with spirit energy who had lived among people without it for a very long time, Karia had to know this plan wouldn't work. There had to be more to this than just building an army, but listening in on the people here offered no further clues.

The appointed hour arrived and the three of us split up. Rukia went to tell Byakuya and the other soul reapers what we'd found. Sloth went to tell Ichigo and the others. I stayed at the enemy camp to continue gathering information adn report if anything changed.

* * *

Author's comments:  
As a bit of a butterfly effect, Yoshi no longer being alive to fight Rukia meant Karia had to come up with an alternative means of luring Byakuya out for their confrontation. So he retasked Ichinose from blowing up the repentance cell to assassinating a particular member of a high ranking noble house instead. It gives the same sense of vulnerability and lures Byakuya out at the same time. With Rukia at her full power, Ichinose's illusions being negated, and the morale issues that come with the person you just killed showing up to avenge themselves, Ichinose never really stood a chance.


	25. Chapter 27: The Rukon Revolution

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 27) The Rukon Revolution  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

"Do you know when they'll be back?" asked Tatski when I finished explaining what had happened at the bounts' hideout.

I shook my head. "It depends on how long it takes them to deal with Karia. The Soul Society already has a senkaimon set up with a spirit particle conversion machine,so we won't have to wait a full week for them to set it up, but beyond that, there's really no way to tell."

Tatski interlocked her fingers behind her head ans stretched, letting out a sigh. "It sucks having to sit on the sidelines like this."

"The sidelines are where it's safe," said Keigo from where he leaned against the fence that kept him from falling off the school roof.

"I can't continue the occlumency lessons until my soul gets back," I said. "I've been thinking. Ichigo and the others have spiritual powers they're going to need to focus on mastering, bt there's no sign you two can do anything more than see spirits."

"I know. That's what I'm so frustrated about," said Tatski.

"How are your science grades?" I asked. "Particularly chemistry."

"Lousy," said Keigo.

"Mine are fine. Why?" asked Tatski.

"When I first came to this world, I didn't have any spirit energy at all. I stole mine from a soul reaper on my first trip to the Soul Society. Before that, I fought hollows using an ability called alchemy."

"Are you saying this is something we can learn?" asked Tatski eagerly.

"Anyone with a soul can learn it," I said. "It'll take a lot longer than the couple months of weekly lessons you'll need to get decent at occlumency. The last alchemist I trained learned it in five years. That was for complete mastery of the craft with no shortcuts, though. I can probably get you enough training that you can fight using an amplifier with a few weeks of dedicated effort."

"I'm in," said Tatski.

"Count me out," said Keigo. "If I see a hollow, I'm running the other way. I am not a fighter."

I smirked, then added, "Did I mention alchemy training includes learning to turn lead into gold?"

"Okay, count me back in," said Keigo. "I'm still running the other way if a hollow comes, but I don't care how much nerd studying I have to do if it'll make me filthy stinking rich!"

"We'll meet after school every day," I said. "And I'll assign you readings on chemistry and geology. Later we'll throw in biology."

"I can't wait," said Tatski.

"One more thing," I said. "Alchemy is the science of understanding, deconstructing, and reconstructing matter. As powerful as a trained alchemist can become in a world made of matter, this skill is nearly useless in spirit worlds like the Soul Society. You'll be able to defend your home, but following Ichigo and the others when they travel between worlds is still not going to be a reasonable thing to do."

* * *

In Kusajishi, a meeting was called. People gathered int eh largest building in town, a gambling house run by one of the local crime lords. Koga was seated on an elevated platform alone. Jin and Swatari were nowhere to be seen. I listened as he explained that Karia wanted them to fight the soul reapers in the Seireitei. The Rukon dwellers knew full well that was a hopeless endeavor and weren't shy about saying so.

"Tell us your plan," said the crime boss.

"First you must agree," said Koga. "You have to be with us before I can tell you. Can we count on your support in this fight?"

People were hesitant to sign on without knowing the plan, so Koga said, "Ideally, all souls should be sent to the Soul Society equally, but in reality this entire world is ruled by only a small part of it. The power is all held in the Seireitei. There shouldn't be poverty in the Rukon District.

"This place, Kusajishi, is a place where death can come for you at any time, where blood is washed away with more blood. It was similar for us in the world of the living, though, in a way, we lived in even worse conditions. So you see, we can understand your feelings.

"Don't you ever want to see the light of day again? Don't you want to live your lives the way you choose? Without looks of scorn from the rest of the world?"

"Of course we want it!" called out one of the audience members. "Everyone does. Right?" There was a general murmur of agreement.

Koga stood and said, "Master Karia is going to turn the Soul Society upside down. It's true. Come along with us to a brand new world."

"Very well," said the crime boss, silencing the murmurs of the crowd. "But first, I need proof that you're serious about this plan of yours. Anything will do. Show us all how dedicated you are to this."

In reply, Koga took a knife and made a deep cut in his arm. Holding it up and letting the blood drip, he made sure everyone could see the wound. Then, the wound glowed blue with spirit energy. Parts of the building broke down into luminescent particles that flowed into Koga's wound. The cut closed before our eyes, not even leaving a scar. That explained how he grew his arm back and why he was walking without a limp.

"You see that we are invincible," said Koga. "As long as you are with us, you will have nothing to fear. We are going to destroy the Seireitei. Together with you, we're going to reshape the Soul Society ito the way it should have always been."

After the rally, the people filtered out. I stayed until I was alone with Koga then removed my invisibility cloak.

"That was quite a speech," I said as I revealed myself. "Do you really believe any of it?"

Koga tensed from the surprise of my appearance, then forced himself to relax. "Of course I believe it. You've seen how the people here live."

"I'm not denying there are major systemic social problems in the Soul Society," I said. "I just think you care a lot more about cynically exploiting these people's discontent for your own ends than you care about improving their lives."

"The bounts are as human as anyone else," said Koga. "Is it so strange we, who've been subject to hate, fear, and persecution in the world of the living would feel a sense of kinship with the downtrodden of the Soul Society?"

"They can't win a war with the Seireitei. I know it. You know it. They know it. You can regenerate your wounds using hte spirit particles in this world's air, but they can't. You're feeding them false hope in order to lead them to slaughter."

"A slaughter? Do you think so? And you willingly serve an organization that would condone such a slaughter of the weak and defenseless?"

"I recognize the truth," I said. "Even if you could destroy the Seireitei and kill every soul reaper in it, which you can't, it wouldn't help the people in the Rukon District one bit. The soul reapers didn't cause the crime and poverty in Kusajishi, except through neglect."

"You didn't answer my question," said Koga.

"You think I don't know that the Soul Society's leadership is a mix of corrupt nobles and brutal warlords? I've been planning to murder one of the captains myself. The difference is, I'm planning on doing it within their rules because I know I don't have a chance of winning against the entire organization even if I'm up to killing a captain one on one."

"You don't know what Master Karia's plan is," noted Koga. "How can you be so sure it won't succeed?"

"Because he's already made so many mistakes," I said. "First among those mistakes was attacking the people I care about."

"So this is about a personal grudge for you?" asked Koga. "For that, you would condemn these people to the status quo?"

"It was a tactical mistake," I said. "Ho and Ban died because Karia wasn't worried about pissing off potential allies. Those two could have been very effective against the captains. At this point, thanks to Karia's mistakes and mismanagement, you're down to three bounts. And you've lost your soul reaper able to slip in and out of the Seireitei undetected."

"Ichinose-"

"Is dead," I said, dropping the broken Nijigasumi on the floor. "Rukia Kuchki is my friend. The same miscalculation that cost you Ho and Ban just cost you Ichinose."

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Koga.

"Mabashi did the smart thing and walked away from Karia's insane plan," I said. "Ryo and Ugaki are now my prisoners rather than dead because despite everything, I didn't like the idea of exterminating an entire race of people. Karia won't listen, and I have other plans for Swatari, but you still have a chance to walk away."

"I won't walk away," said Koga, "and you can't kill me. We are going to change the Soul Society whether you stand in our way or not. Zeiga dich-"

"Adava Kedavra!" I called out. It was the wrong move. Koga was still a living human and thus a valid target for the unblockable killing curse, but he was a misguided true believer in his cause. After talking to him, I couldn't muster the hatred that was required for the spell. No green bolt of instant death flew at the bount, and he was able to finish summoning his doll.

As Dalk assembled herself, I rushed at Koga and attempted to cut him as I drew my zanpakto. He dodged backward. I drew my zanpakto. He dodged backward. Objectively, he was a lot faster and I was a lot slower than the last time we fought, but this time my spirit energy was enhancing my reflexes, and my eyes could follow his movements. I pursued with a flash step to attempt another slash.

I noticed Dalk unleashing a barrage of machine gun fire on me a split second before it hit. That split second gave me time to raise my left hand, and my shield glove stopped the bullets before they got within a foot of my body.

Koga flash stepped behind his doll, and directed her to finish me off quickly before someone came in to see what was going on. He added that she was only allowed to attack me. Killing his potential recruits would have been bad publicity whether he believed in his cause or not.

"Bind, Tsumi no Rensa," I called out, releasing my zanpkato into its chain form. I twirled the chain overhead and started releasing links like sling bullets. In midair, I added links to the fling projectiles, forming makeshift bolas. Dalk and Koga both dodged, and my bolas ended up wrapping around rafters, pillars, and other structural points in the crude building.

"Too slow," taunted Dalk.

"Not aiming at you," I said with a smirk. I pointed toward one of the lengths of chain and said, "Hado 4: Byakurai!"

The low level kido spell produced a bolt of lightning strong enough to crack stone. Directed at the coiled length of chain, the current turned it into a powerful electromagnet. I casually dropped the length of chain still in my hand as all the metal in the rom was pulled toward the magnet, including Dalk's metal body. It wouldn't hold her more than a second, but in that second, I had an open shot at Koga, who was being tugged painfully by the metal parts of his clothing.

I drew my wand, channeled my spirit energy through it, and called out, "Sectumsempra!"

Koga got his arms up in time to protect his face and throat. Both of his forearms were cut to the bone and bleeding freely from the powerful cutting curse.

Dalk freed herself and pounced at me. I stopped her in midair with an impediment jinx before she could land her bulk on top of me. Undeterred, she extended her insect-like legs at me in a parody of my Ultimate Spear. I managed to dodge the attacks, rolling out from under her and springing back to my feet near the coil of chain that was my zanpakto.

"What did you do to me?" asked Koga s he stared at the deep cuts on his arms that would not heal. Dalk paused in her attacks to hear my answer.

"I've killed you," I said simply. "It would've been faster if you hadn't tried to block, but the result will be the same either way. The wounds inflicted by my Sectumsempra spell don't heal on their own, and require a specific counter curse to treat. Captain Unohana of squad four managed to heal it, but you don't strike me as being a healer on her level. Blood is going to keep pumping out of those wounds until you're dead." I shiethed my wand.

"Dalk, cut off my arms," ordered Koga.

"My pleasure," said Dalk, turning one of her metal arms into an axe.

I grabbed the nearest length of chain, sealed my zanpakto back into sword form, and flash stepped between the bount and his doll, blocking a heavy overhead strike from the doll's axe hand.

"Awe, you want me to cut off your arms first, soul reaper? I can do that." Dalk formed a second axe hand and started swinging both at me. I was able to keep pace with her attacks and keep blocking, but there was no opening I could take advantage of for a counterattack.

"Clever," I said to Koga as I fended off his doll. "Excise the tissue that's suffered the cursed wound then regenerate the whole limb intact. I wont' make it that easy."

Attempting a technique Yoruichi had explained to me, I flared my spirit energy a split second before I flash stepped backward away from Dalk, leaving a brief afterimage behind. Energy from every cell in my body had gone into creating that afterimage, which meant it was anatomically accurate. When Dalk slashed through it, blood seemed to spurt out before the image faded away completely.

Koga held up his arms for Dalk to chop off. As Dalk did so, I appeared behind Koga, calling out, "Sectumsempra!" as I slashed his back. Spirit particles gathered at the stumps to begin regenerating his arms, but his legs collapsed from under him. My attack had severed part of his spine.

"Pathetic," spat Dalk, looking down at Koga. "I suppose I'd better put you out of your missery."

"I don't think so," I said with a smirk. I grabbed hold of Koga and apparated outside of town with him.

"Why?" Koga struggled to ask as blood continue to pour from the wound on his back.

I slapped a pair of spirit energy sealing manacles on his newly regenerated wrists and said, "You're no threat to me anymore. What would be the point in letting you die?"

I sheathed m zanpakto, rolled him onto his stomach, and drew my wand. I applied the appropriate counter curse to heal his wound. I briefly considered a blood replenishing potion, but thought better of it. The spirit particles in the air had already regenerated most of his lost blood, and I'd acted quickly to seal his wounds after I'd slapped on the manacles. Koga was shaky, but he'd live. I helped my prisoner to his feet.

Raising my wand above my head, I called out, "Acio Mancho!" A small steel marble flew to my hand. Koga's eyes tracked it as I caught it and placed it into a pouch on my belt.

* * *

Back at the Shiba house, I handed Koga over to Kukaku's retainers to keep restrained until the conflict was over. Ichigo and the others had headed out to Kusajishi in the hope of ending this conflict. Sloth was waiting for me.

"Did you have to use your trump card?" asked Sloth.

I helped up my substitute badge. "Had it on me the whole time."

"And you managed a nonlethal take down without any injuries," said Sloth. "You lost a leg going up against swatari."

"Koga was a much more straightforward fighter," I said. "I also didn't have to worry about keeping anyone else safe. Swatari took hostages. Koga actively tried to keep them out of it."

"Mayuri isn't a straightforward fighter," said Sloth. "I'm going to be there recording it and not getting involved. I need you to go full power from the start. Don't take chances with him."

I nodded. "Full power and then some. I can seal my powers and train up my spirit energy later. Mayuri dies as quickly and efficiently as I can manage it. I won't underestimate him."

"Do you know when the fight's coming?"

"Soon. We're down to two bounts. Mayuri hasn't left the Seireitei and Swatari hasn't entered. When they fight each other that'll be our cue."

"I should head in to the Department of Research and Development now, then," said Sloth. "I've been thinking about how to get in and do what I need to do."

"I knew you'd figure something out," I said. "After tracking down and recovering my corpse from the Nazis, this should be a piece of cake."

"I'm taking the map with me," said Sloth. "I'll map out Research and Development while I'm there."

"Good luck," I said, kissing her.

"You're going to need it more than I am," said Sloth, giving me a longer, deeper kiss.

Then she disappeared beneath her invisibility cloak. I stared at my substitute badge and removed the silencing spell I'd placed on it to keep from being overheard. Soon, this would all be over.

* * *

While I waited for word from Ichigo or Sloth, I employed my legilimency on Koga. Karia's compartmentalization of information continued to serve him well. Koga knew that the men they were recruiting would be used to build and operate a set of siege engines to force open the gates of the Seireitei, but Karia hadn't told him the next step of the plan once they were inside.

Koga had been growing concerned about Karia since they arrived in the Soul Society. He was acting oddly and behaving recklessly. Shortly before the speech I sat in on, Karia had sensed the approach of Captain Byakuya Kuchki and left to fight him one on one. I'd been able to confront Koga as I had because Karia had done so.

My interrogation was interrupted by the arrival of Orihime's rika. The small fairy creature was being used as a messenger. The others had gone to Kusahishi and found it abandoned. The men Koga had been gathering had relocated after my fight. Taking the rika in my hand, I apparated back to Kusajishi. The only people there were Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, Uryu, Ganju's gang, and the mod souls. Orihime's messenger returned to her hair pin and we compared notes.

Ichigo and Byakuya had teamed up to fight Karia. Karia's ability to manipulate wind let him keep pace with Ichigo's speed enhancing bankai and Byakuya's flash steps. Using bankai, both had managed to penetrate the wind barriers Karia used for defense, but it had taken bankai, and Karia was able to regenerate those injuries anyway.

The fight had ended when Ran Tao, the soul reaper scientist who'd created the bounts a thousand years ago, stepped in. Ran Tao looked exactly like Yoshino because the experiments Ran Tao had been conducting involved using cloned souls that eventually formed the basis for mod soul technology. Yoshino had been a spiritual clone of Ran Tai, altered by the process that created the bounts.

Karia had fled the battle, and Byakuya left. Ran Tao invited Ichigo and Uryu back to her place to talk and she filled them in on the bounts' history. Shortly after the bounts' creation, there was a disagreement among those in the Seireitei. Ran Tao argued the Soul Society should take responsibility for their creations and find a place for them in the Soul Society. Central 46 decided differantly, and Ran Tao had been banished from the Seireitei with her powers sealed after she helped some bounts escape a soul reaper purge.

There were a few useful tidbits of information. The bounts had been based on soul reaper souls. Their dolls were essentially zanpakto spirits bound to a homunculus body instead of a sword. That let me finish decrypting the bounts' doll summoning array.

Ran Tao herself had apparently developed some useful technologies. She had a method to radically extend a soul reaper's lifespan, perhaps indefinitely, at the cost of reduced stamina and an increased need for sleep. She'd developed a device that let her heal injuries nearly instantly without resorting to spells, potions, and the like.

Finally, and most significantly, Ran Tao had developed a weapon of some sort that was powerful enough that a person with no spiritual pressure could injure captain class opponents. I needed to find out more, since a weapon like that could not only keep Tatski and Keigo safe, but if it could be mass produced could turn the Soul Society upside down far more effectively than Karia ever could.

After getting directions to Ran Tao's hidden underground lab in the forests of Kusajishi, I filled the others in on my fight with Koga and what I'd learned from him about the bounts' plans. We set to work searching the forest for the army's new camp where they'd be building their siege engine.

"It's so frustrating," snapped Renji. "Ever since they got to the Soul Society, the bounts have been more careful about hiding their spiritual pressure. Unless they get in a fight or we get really close, they're going to be almost impossible to find."

"What about that bount sensor Kiske made?" I asked Ichigo.

"It got damaged in the fight with Koga back in the world of the living," said Ichigo. "With everything else going on, I didn't think to pick up the pieces to see if it could be fixed."

"Neither of us were thinking of it at the time," I admitted.

"Too bad you left your dog behind," said Chad. "We could use Karia's blood from Ichigo's fight to find him."

"No disrespect for your dog," prefaced Ganju, "but as far as tracking's concerned, he's no match for my Bonnie." Ganju patted his boar affectionately.

"Could she really do that?" asked Orihime.

"It's worth a try," said Uryu, though he eyed the boar skeptically.

Ichigo took out a cloth he'd used to wipe his blade clean after the battle and held it up to Bonnie. The boar sniffed then took off at a dead run. Ichigo and I were forced to use flash step to keep up with the animal. The only other person in our party able to keep up was Uryu, using a quincy high speed movement technique that offered at least equivalent speed (though he claimed superior) relying on an entirely different mechanism. The others would be able to catch up by following our spiritual pressure.

We came to a stop in an area that looked like it'd been the site of a battle. Trees had been uprooted, sliced clean through, and burned. Deep gouges had been torn in the earth. Wide areas had been violently cleared of vegetation. Ichigo gritted his teeth and raised a clenched fist to keep himself from screaming.

"This stupid pig just led us back to where I fought Karia!" growled Ichigo.

Uryu adjusted his glasses and said, "Now that I think about it, Bonnie's tracking the scent of Karia's blood. That worked in the world of the living because Koga hadn't stopped bleeding. In the Soul Society, Karia can heal his wounds with reshi, so this is probably the last place his blood fell."

"Still, there's got to be plenty of sweat and the like here Bonnie can use to track him farther," I said.

We were still trying to encourage Bonnie to pick up Karia's scent when Ganju and the others arrived. None of the mod souls were picking up anything more than the lingering presence of Karia's spirit energy from the battle.

I detected the approach of someone with a high level of spiritual power a second before Uryu said, "Someone's coming."

There was a visible flicker as a boy who looked to be about fourteen flash stepped to the edge of our group. He had short white hair and icy green eyes. A larger than usual zanpakto was strapped to his back by a green sash and he wore a white captain's coat identifying him as the captain of squad ten.

"Toshiro? What are you doing here?" asked Ichigo.

"That's Captain Hitsugaya," corrected the soul reaper captain. "I've been put in charge of finding and dealing with the bounts. Squad thirteen member Rukia Kuchki reported that they were gathering forces in Kusasjishi. I was on my way there when I sensed your spiritual pressure."

"Kusajishi has been abandoned," explained Kurodo. "We think they've relocated somewhere in this forest to build a siege engine to force open the gates of the Seireitei." 

* * *

Souls without spirit energy moved at the same speed as normal humans, meaning there was only so far the people of Kusajishi could have gone, even if Karia himself could move faster. Between Ichigo, Uryu, Captain Hitsugaya, and I, we managed to search the entire area they could have gone in an afternoon, but there was no sign of any of them. We regrouped in the abandoned city.

"Are you sure about how long it's been since you left them?" asked Captain Hitsugaya.

I nodded. "I keep a watch on me for situations like this."

"But if that's the case, where are they?" asked Orihime.

"There is a way they could've gotten farther," said Noba. "The bount we fought could manipulate dimensional spaces like I can. He could have relocated them."

"If he did that, they could be anywhere," said a frustrated Renji.

"Not anywhere," I said. "If they could use that to bypass the Seireitei's sekiseki stone walls, they wouldn't need to build siege engines in the first place."

"That's true," said Hitsugaya, "but it doesn't help narrow it down much. The Rukon District has more forests than every soul reaper in the Seireitei could search in a decade."

"It sounds as though we're stuck waiting for them to make their move," said Uryu.

Hitsugaya returned to the Seireitei to coordinate a search of the forests closest to the Seireitei on the off chance he'd get lucky. The rest of us returned to Kukaku's house. I prepared four portkeys, one for each gate, so when the bounts made their move, we'd be able to deploy to whichever gate they attacked the instant we got word.

No one was comfortable waiting and doing nothing, so I took advantage of the break in the action to give Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Orihme their next occlumency lesson. I took advantage of our current, frustrating situation to punch through their mental defenses and provide a lesson on the value of emotional control to this skill.

I wasn't the only one who decided to pass the time by giving lessons. Uryu got started explaining how to hide your spiritual pressure. For the rest of the evening, until we went to bed, the four of us practiced under Uryu's supervision. He'd warned us this wasn't something we'd be able to master overnight, and none of us proved genius protegees at the technique.

* * *

Author comments:  
The Rukon District's lawlessness and poverty is something you can ignore when you briefly stop off on your way to deal with a time sensitive mission like with rescuing Rukia, but any extended stay in the area is going to make it significantly harder to ignore the problems. Koga spoke eloquently on the issues there, and though his methods are awful, the good points he raised aren't going to be ignored going forward.


	26. Chapter 28: The New Captain of the 12th

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 28) The New Captain of the 12th Division  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Early the next morning, I heard Sloth's voice say, "Greed," from inside my silver pocket watch. I flipped it open and saw her face reflected in the communication mirror. "The bounts are at the west gate."

"Is everything ready?" I asked.

"It is," she replied.

"See you soon," I said. Then I snapped my watch shut, replaced it in my inner jacket pocket, and went to tell the others.

Sloth's stealth mission into the Department of Research and Development meant that she wasn't staring at the map the whole time. Thus, when our party arrived at the west gate via portkey, Karia and his forces had been there for some time. Jidanbo had been defeated and was gradually bleeding out on the ground. The wooden siege engine was holding open the gate, and Karia was inside along with Swatari and a few of the people from Kusajishi. A handful of defenders inside the gate had also fallen.

When Karia saw us coming, he used a gust of wind with the force of a hurricane to tear apart the siege engine and let the massive gate fall down again, cutting us off from him. The wind incidentally lifted the people who'd thought they were more than pawns to him and hurled them at lethal velocities. I threw as many cushioning charms as I could, but there were too many. I decided it was now or never to play one of my trump cards.

Flipping open my pocket watch, I noted the time. At that instant, a dozen extra instances of me appeared. Between us, every person thrown around by Karia's wind was saved.

"All but one of me has to stay out here and help tend to the wounded," I said. "I'll be happy to try and explain why after all this is over, but don't get your hopes up. Nonlinear temporal causality's tricky to wrap your head around."

"Fair enough," said Ichigo. "Now, how are we going to get inside?"

"Jidanbo can open the gate," said Orihime as her rika flew to the giant and his wounds began to close under the orange shield the two rika had formed.

I tossed my substitute badge to the oldest me, who took his position with Ichigo and the others while I started healing the people Karia had tossed around. Jidanbo was soon healed enough to open the gate, and the others headed in. For the next hour, I tended to wounds and encouraged the people here to return to their homes. Then I used my time turner, caught people using cushioning charms, and did it all over again.

On my last loop, before becoming the me that would enter the Seireitei, I made the final preparations for my battle with Mayuri Kurotsuchi, captain of squad twelve. Creating a homunculus requires an extremely intimate understanding of human anatomy. While at Hogwarts, pretending to be a wizard, I deepened my understanding of the human neural systems. It was that understanding that made the immensely complex transfiguration I was doing on myself possible.

Turning someone into a ferret and back was a simple process compared to what I was doing. My entire central nervous system was rewired. Specialized neurons were repurposed. Neurotransmitters were rebalanced. All to one specific goal. I'd swapped the responsibilities of my motor neurons and nerves responsible for transmitting pain signals. Flexing my fingers and testing my joints, I verified that I hadn't accidentally paralyzed myself in the process. I used my time turner one last time, took my substitute badge from my past self, then stepped into the Seireitei with the others.

* * *

Once inside the Seireitei, the party split up to search for Karia. When I was alone, Sloth took off her invisibility cloak.

"Mayuri's just leaving Research and Development now," said Sloth, handing me the map. "He's headed for the squad one barracks for a captain's meeting about the intruders."

"I don't see a camera," I said, looking Sloth up and down.

She held up what looked like a fly. "Research and Development has all sorts of toys like this. I managed to read the passwords for their systems from the researchers and system administrators and set up the feed. Once I start transmitting, it'll override every monitor in the place to show the fight."

"Getting some good use out of those computer science books we assimilated, I see."

"I'll hold your badge," said Sloth. "I disabled the surveillance on it for the next twenty four hours, but I couldn't find a way to stop it from suppressing your spirit energy, so we'll have to do this the old fashioned way."

I handed the bade over and set out for an unmapped part of the Seireitei with Sloth at my side. Watching the map, we saw our friends engaged in their own searches. It wasn't long before Baura and Swatari swam onto the map. Sloth and I pulled on our invisibility cloaks and headed toward them, holding hands thorough the fabric to stay together.

As we shadowed Swatari, I watched Mayuri's dot. From the captains meeting, he returned to Research and Development, then made a B-line for Swatari. He'd been holding out on us. He had a bount detector better than anything Kiske had been able to put together.

He was suppressing his spirit energy. It wasn't at the same level of effectiveness as Uryu or the bounts, but it was better than I could manage. Swatari knew he was there and called him out. Mayuri appeared from a nearby wall, visual camouflage that acted like a disillusionment charm flaking off. The man I was here to kill had gold colored eyes and blue hair styled into a row of spikes under a bizarre hat with two prongs going off to one side of his head. Mayuri wore black and white face makeup and had a pair of conical shaped implants where his ears should have been.

After some perfunctory taunts, including Mayuri asking Swatari to become a research subject and Swatari explaining he'd been given the job of killing all the captains, the fight got underway. Mayuri had gotten good use out of the surveillance technology in my badge and knew to stay away from flat surfaces where Baura could emerge. Unfortunately, exposure to the Soul Society's reshi rich air had enhanced Baura's powers. He could now enter and exit his pocket dimension in midair.

This new trick threw Mayuri off and put him on the defensive. He flash stepped out of the way a split second after Baura emerged. This game of cat and mouse continued until Mayuri couldn't quite dodge in time. Baura ate Mayuri's left arm.

Swatari was an idiot. Rather than press his advantage, he emerged to taunt, giving Mayuri a chance to inject a green fluid into his shoulder near the severing point. The drug regenerated his arm in seconds, though the process looked extremely painful.

Mayuri unscrewed one of the implants that replaced his ears, revealing it to be a hold out weapon, a hand scythe attached to a fleshy cord that was still attached to his head. It was clever. A zanpakto is built to channel its wielder's spirit energy to enhance its cutting power. A normal weapon that didn't channel his spirit energy would be useless. By making the scythe a part of his body, he could channel his spirit energy through it. It wouldn't be as powerful as his true zanpakto, but it would do the job.

Taking the fight to a more open area, Mayuri scattered bombs and detonated them. The dust that was displaced as Baura emerged gave Mayuri an extra second's warning, which allowed him to use his scythe like a fishhook and pin the doll long enough to cut the bount out of his armored seat using his zanpakto. Then Mayuri drove his released sword through Swatari's arm.

"Ashisogi Jinso causes complete paralysis," explained Mayuri proudly to the bount he had on the ground. "Unlike in cases of ordinary paralysis, the body's ability to feel pain is completely unaffected."

This was the technique I'd rewired my nervous system to counter. Once Swatari was dead, I was up next. Mayuri looked to be in no hurry. Taking his time to torture the bount was a mistake.

Swatari called out an order to Baura, and the doll regurgitated kido attacks, no doubt swallowed from the defenders. Mayuri dodged, and that gave Baura a chance to retrieve Swatari and retreat into their separate dimension. More irritated than concerned, Mayuri took out a handheld device that enabled him to track the retreating bount. Sloth and I followed them to the stairs leading to the repentance cell.

After Mayuri explained there was nowhere the bount could run, the two of them re-engaged. While Swatari was still paralyzed despite having regenerated his wounds, this bount's style of combat involved remaining stationary and issuing orders to his doll anyway. Mayuri overestimated how much his paralyzing attack had slowed the bount down and left himself open, losing the same arm he'd lost last time once again as the doll bit it off.

That was the point where Mayuri decided to get serious, disclaiming Swatari as a potential research subject and calling out, "Bankai, Konjiki Ashisogi Jiso!"

Mayuri's bankai was larger than Swatari's whale sized doll. The enormous creature had a caterpillar-like body and the head and arms of a grotesquely oversized baby. It had a halo and a red cape. The creature didn't walk but hovered. Purple gas, that I knew from Uryu's memories was poison, spread from the monster's mouth.

I took a beozar from one of my belt pouches and swallowed it. This was a complex mixed poison that wouldn't be cured with a beozar alone, but the beozar would slow the spread and limit the symptoms long enough to brew a proper antidote. While Baura sucked up the poisonous gas, I used a wordless, wandless casting of Scarpium's revealo spell to analyze the poison. Knowing its composition, I was able to identify the individual antidotes for its components, all of which I had on me. Under my cloak, I mixed those antidotes into a single vial. The mixed antidote still needed one more ingredient to properly bond them into a full antidote for the mixed poison. I needed some of Mayuri's blood, which had served as the base for the original poison. As if I needed more motivation to kill the man.

Baura tried biting Konjiki Ashisogi Jinso's head. The bankai revealed hidden blades in its neck, which it used to pierce the doll's underbelly. It was hard to tell if it was the poison or the death of his doll that finished Swatari off, but he quickly crumbled to dust. Mayuri resealed and sheathed his zanpakto.

This was my chance. I took off my invisibility cloak and stepped into view. I was rewarded with a look of surprise from the captain of squad twelve.

"Have you been there the entire time?" asked Mayuri. "I have the antidote for Konjiki Ashisogi Jiso's poison right here." He pulled out a vial.

"I have my own antidote," I said. "I wouldn't trust anything you gave me anyway."

"I see. So, I take it this means you're here to kill me, then. The surveillance devices in the reigai made your intention to eventually do so quite clear. Were you planning to blame my death on the bounts?"

"No," I said. "This is my captain's exam. I'm broadcasting this fight to everyone in the twelfth division."

"A fight is it?" asked Mayuri. "You've decided to come after me before even achieving bankai. The sheer arrogance. I won't need more than one arm to deal with you."

Mayuri opened the vial he'd claimed contained the antidote. I could smell it, which wasn't a good sign. I attempted to call out the release command for my zanpakto, but no sound came out of my mouth.

"I admit, I lied about what was in this vial," said Mayuri giggling with glee. "My analysis of your combat style indicates you're a kido based fighter. The obvious counter was a drug to paralyze the vocal cords."

I slashed my zanpakto in his direction, firing an unspoken sectumsempra curse at him. Mayuri dodged with a flash step. He was smiling broadly.

"While it is possible to use kido without calling out the spell's name, the drop in power is even more significant than casting with a chant discard. Low power translates to low speed, so it's useless to try to fight at long range with those when your opponent knows flash step."

I flash stepped behind him, flared my spirit energy to create an afterimage, then flash stepped in front of him. I should have just attacked his back instead of getting fancy with it. Instead of turning like I expected, Mayuri stayed facing forward and plunged his blade into my stomach.

I collapsed at Mayuri's feet. The wound he'd inflicted wasn't serious. It could easily be mended with healing kido after the fight. I wasn't feeling any pain.

Standing over me, Mayuri said, "It is a pity that hte drug in your system is paralyzing your vocal cords. Ashoskigi Jiso selectively shuts down the nerve signals responsible for movement but leaves the ability to feel pain completely intact."

He slowly raised his zanpakto to stab me again, savoring having me helpless. Then the feigned agony on my face turned into a superior smirk. I raised my left hand and a red bolt struck Ashisogi Jiso. The blade was forced out of Mayuri's grip by my disarming charm. At the same time, I gripped Tsumi no Rensa in my right hand and slashed across Mayuri's belly. The cut was shallow because he flash stepped backward quickly.

Springing to my feet, I cast a wordless, wandless summoning charm and Ashisogi Jiso landed in my waiting left hand. Mayuri's face was twisted with rage as he glanced down at his stomach.

"Your kido didn't work at range so you baited me in. I look forward to extracting how you overcame Ashisogi Jiso's paralysis from you once I drag you back to my lab. Sokatsui!"

I raised the hand holding Mayuri's zanpakto to block the blast of lightning fired from his palm. My shield glove did its job, but it was smoking and smoldering. It wouldn't be able to block the next one.

Correctly guessing the kido attack had been a distraction, I slashed Tsumi no Rensa behind me and fired a sectumsempra spell. Unfortunately, Mayuri rushed me from the front, bot behind, and successfully wrenched his zanpakto out of my grip then flash stepped out of range before I could swing my sword at him.

"It's time to put an end to this. Bankai, Konjiki Ashisogi Jiso!"

I gripped Tsumi no Rensa with both hands as I faced down the giant, baby headed caterpillar monster spewing noxious purple fumes.

"You say you have an antidote to Konjiki Ashisogi Jiso's poison," taunted Mayuri. "Whether that's true or not, it has other abilities."

The blades that had killed Baura extended from the bankai's neck. I planted my feet and held my ground. The creature rushed me too fast for me to dodge even if I had wanted to. I pointed along a line in front of me with m zanpakto and a wall of enchanted black flames sprang up right in the charging bankai's path. I knew from experience those flames were hot enough to turn diamond to ash in seconds. A cloud of hot ash that had once been Mayuri's bankai blew past me as I flash stepped forward, through the wall.

The potion I'd taken before the fight protected me from the deadly flames, and I caught Mayuri by surprise, striking him with another disarming charm. I was in close and rather than try to catch his sword, I focused my efforts on trying to cut him down. Mayuri gave ground as he undid the cap on his second ear implant and drew another hand scythe to fight me with.

Mayuri was an intellectual fighter. He planned his moves, thought through his strategies, and adapted his plans to changing battlefield conditions. That was what gave me a big advantage fighting him up close and personal like this. My legilimency let me see his moves in his mind and react before his body had time to make them.

"If your goal was to make me mad, you've succeeded!" yelled Mayuri. "I've already been forced to remodel my bankai once by your quincy friend, and now I'm going to have to do it all over again!"

My sword crossed blades with his scythe and I turned Tsumi no Rensa in an attempt to stab Mayuri through the head without uncrossing our blades. He hooked his scythe on my zanpakto's cross guard and extended his arm, such that my blade tip stopped inches from his skull. In the heat of the moment, he'd forgotten something important.

The size of a zanpakto reflects the size of its wielder's spirit energy. My spirit energy had grown considerably since I first claimed this sword. I deliberately restrained my spirit energy in order to allow it to still fit its original sheath. In this position, sword tip pointed at Mayuri's skull, I released that control and my zanpakto grew in a flash, stabbing through Mayuri's brain and extending out the back of his head.

I quickly compressed my blade back down, and backed up. Energy poured from Korutsuchi's fatal head wound and shot up in the sky. I'd seen this happen once before, on my first day in Karakura Town. The zanpakto could only cleanse a soul of sins that were committed as a hollow. Mayuri's inhuman experimentation had been undertaken of his own free will. The gates of hell opened to claim him.

I watched with a sense of grim satisfaction as his soul was pulled inside the gate. Before he vanished entirely, I cast a quick summoning charm and pulled his tattered, bloody, battle damaged captain's coat off his body. The gates of hell closed and vanished. I slung the symbol of my new office over my shoulder and dug out a vial containing my incomplete antidote to his bankai's poison. Allowing a drop of Mayuri's blood to drip off my zanpakto into the vial, I raised it to my lips and took a swallow of the antidote.

Sloth stepped out from under her invisibility cloak, healed my remaining wounds, and restored my ability to speak. She accepted the antidote I offered her and took a swig. I repaired the coat, vanished the blood, and put it on.

"I knew you could do it, Greed," said Sloth, wrapping her arms around me.

"What do you say we go have a few words with my new squad?" I suggested, apparating, with Sloth side along, to the squad twelve compound.

* * *

Squad 12's compound had been attacked. The front doors to the Department of Research and Development had been blasted down, and part of the ceiling had collapsed, pinning people under the rubble. It was hard to say how many were injured and unconscious and how many were dead.

Nemu Kurotsuchi, Mayuri's artificially created daughter and the lieutenant of squad 12 had been injured in the fighting. Blood had run down her face from a cut near her hairline and into her eyes. Her exposed legs showed signs of scrapes and bruises. She was working to free the trapped soul reapers when I came in. Looking up at me, Nemu froze. Her expression became absolutely blank and her eyes were downcast.

"Master Mayuri is...?" said Nemu weakly.

"Dead," I confirmed. "As much as I'd like to give you time to process that grief, I need a report, Lieutenant."

Nemu snapped to attention, saying, "Yes, Captain. The sole surviving bount, Jin Karia attacked the Department of Research and Development looking for an artifact called the Jokai crest. He located it in an underground room we have no records of that predates the establishment of the Department of Research and Development. After absorbing the power of the Jokai crest, he claimed to have the power to destroy the Seireitei. He stated his intention to do just that in twenty four hours."

"Casualties?" I asked.

"Most of the facility was untouched," replied Nemu. "This room was the only one he damaged that was in use at the time."

"If you haven't already, send a request for assistance from Squad 4. I'll get these people out from under the rubble. Does anyone else know what happened?"

"The substitute soul reaper Ichigo Kurosaki was there when Karia found the crest," said Nemu. "He left to inform the other captains."

I crew my wand, levitating debris asside and vanishing rubble. Sloth healed the worst cases. Nemu sent out a number of black hell butterflies carrying messages to the other squads with details about Karia's attack, what I'd told her about the Jokai crests, and the change in leadership in the 12th division.

When the 4th division healers arrived to take over treating the wounded, they were accompanied by a messenger from Head Captain Yamamoto. The captain commander demanded my presence. I kissed Sloth goodbye, ordered Nemu to see if there was enough data on Karia to calibrate a new bount detector, then headed for the Squad 1 barracks.

* * *

Author's comments:  
In terms of direct combat, Mayuri is the weakest of the captains. He thrives on preparation and planning. Those are also Greed's strong points. What tipped the scale was the realization that Mayuri's sadism represents an exploitable weakness. The poisons Mayuri uses aren't designed to kill quickly, giving Greed time to produce antidotes, and Mayuri's shikai deliberately not blocking pain signals left Greed an opening to modify his nervous system to make himself immune.


	27. Chapter 29: Staff Management

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 29) Staff Management  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Head Captain Yamamoto was seated at his desk when I entered his office. Captain Sajin Komumura, who's whisker served as the core of my wand, stood behind and beside the deceptively frail and elderly looking Head Captain.

"Explain yourself," rumbled the Head Captain.

"I killed former Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi in a one on one battle witnessed by two hundred members of his squad," I said. "My understanding is that's a valid way to become a captain."

"You also attacked him in the middle of a Ryoka invasion," replied Yamamoto.

"The opportunity presented itself and I took advantage," I said. "I did wait until the Ryoka he was fighting was dead before I issued my challenge."

"Because of your actions, Jin Karia found the 12th division barracks inadequately defended and was able to absorb the power of the Jokai crest," accused Yamamoto. "Your actions have put the whole Seireitei in danger."

"With respect," I said, "Mayuri was already away from the barracks when I got to him, and if anything, I got back before he would have if there'd been no duel. And, no one knew there was an intact Jokai reactor under Research and Development in need of defending."

"You stand by your decision?" challenged the Head Captain.

"I do. I've done nothing wrong." I met the old man's intense gaze and drew on every bit of emotional control my occlumecy training had given me to beat down a panic attack and remain outwardly calm as I stared down the most dangerous and powerful man in the Soul Society. At length, he nodded, satisfied.

"Very well, Captain Greed, report on your efforts toward capturing or eliminating the remaining Ryoka."

I let out a breath and said, "I've ordered my lieutenant to check our data and see if we can find a way to track Karia. Once he's found, he'll need to be isolated. The energy he's absorbed is sufficient to destroy a tenth of the Seireitei if released as an explosion. Even so, spirit energy is spirit energy. It should be possible to contain him in the repentance cell. The sekiseki stone walls would be able to safely contain the detonation."

Yamamoto nodded and said, "Very well. You are dismissed."

I bowed and walked out. Once I was out of earshot, I let out a sigh of relief and let myself collapse, sliding down a nearby wall. My duel with Mayuri was being acknowledged as legitimate and I'd satisfied Yamamoto. The hard part was done. Now I just had to kill Karia before he destroyed the Seireitei, wiping out the data I came for and rendering all this effort pointless.

I stood, composed myself, and apparated back to the 12th division compound. I hadn't been gone very long, so Nemu had nothing new to report. This was going to be a race to see if we could find Karia before he could act. Throwing new orders at them would just get in the way of their primary mission of locating Karia, so I just let them work.

"How'd it go?" asked Sloth once it was clear I wasn't going to start giving orders.

"As well as we could have expected," I said. "Yamamoto accepted my duel as legitimate and acknowledged my captaincy. Once we deal with the immediate crisis, we can get to work on the next stage."

"I had an idea for dealing with Karia," said Sloth. She took out a nearly filled Grief Seed. "We can contain him in a labyrinth so his crest detonating won't kill anyone but him."

"Assuming he doesn't figure out killing the witch will let him out, that'll still mean losing the Grief Seed to the detonation."

"Better that than the casualties from letting him go off normally," said Sloth.

"Point," I acknowledged. "Still, I think we can do one better. We'll need Orihime and the others to pull it off, though."

"What are you thinking?" asked Sloth.

"I'm thinking Karia won't be able to get out if someone's there to protect the witch," I said. "Come on. I can sense Ichigo's spirit energy in the Squad 10 barracks. The others will be close by."

* * *

"What are you wearing?" asked Uryu when Sloth and I walked into Captain Hitsugaya's office.

Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Orihime were split between a pair of couches. Captain Hitsugaya was seated at his large wooden desk. It was a very nice space. I'd have to talk to Hitsugaya about who decorated it so I could have my office similarly appointed. Mayuri's taste did not match mine at all.

"I know you wanted to be the one to do it, Uryu, but I killed Mayuri. You're looking at the new Captain of the 12th Division." I pointed to the number on the back of my coat. "If it's any consolation, the bastard's in hell now."

"I suppose congradulations are in order," said Hitsugaya. "If the Soul Society still exists tomorrow, you'll be formally introduced at the next Captains' meeting."

"Karia's the last one," I said. "I've got Nemu working on a way to track Karia. Once we find him, I have a plan to take him down, but it's going to need all of you to pull it off."

"What do you mean?" asked Ichigo.

"It starts with you serving as a distraction while the rest of us get into position..." I began.

* * *

A few hours later, it was neither Hitsugaya's search parties nor Nemu's work on the bount sensor that located Karia. It was Uryu sensing and recognizing the spiritual pressure of Ran Tao. The thousand year old researcher had apparently managed to temporarily bypass the seal on her spiritual pressure and was now engaged in combat. There was only one person she could be fighting.

We moved in under our invisibility cloaks while Ichigo rushed to Ran Tao's rescue, doubling up as necessary. Hitsugaya went to inform the other captains of our plan and get them into position to back us up if the plan failed. The rest of us weren't that far behind Ichigo, and arrived in time to see a wounded Karia blast what looked like a rifle out of Ran Tao's hands using a concentrated blast of wind.

Ichigo was rushing in to fight Karia in melee. His bankai was already activated and he was moving so fast I couldn't track him except when he paused while clashing with Karia. Karia wasn't as fast, but was accurately anticipating Ichigo's movements in time to counter them.

Uryu picked his moment and rushed Karia from behind. He'd hidden his spirit energy to keep Karia from noticing until it was too late. Uryu stabbed the pulsing, overfull Grief Seed into Karia's back like a knife. The labyrinth formed and Ichigo, Uryu, and Karia vanished inside it.

Sloth, Chad, Orihime, and I rushed into the labyrinth's entrance. A witch's labyrinth is incredibly disorienting even if you're used to the strange. Sloth had warned them what to expect, but actually seeing it was a whole other experince. Sloth grabbed Orihime's wrist and I grabbed Chad's as we sprinted past strangely two dimensional giant cotton balls with mustaches and butterfly wings. We had to get to the center of the labyrinth where Ichigo and Uryu were fighting Karia as fast as possible. Fortunately, Sloth and I had fought this witch so many times, navigating this non-euclidian maze was almost second nature by now.

The four of us arrived in time to see Karia wielding a sword made of lightning rush at the rosebush witch as Ichigo rushed after him to protect the witch. Orihime called out her chant and three rika streaked in front of Karia, forming a triangular shield of orange light. Karia slashed through it, shattering the shield, but stopping to do so let Ichigo get into range and force Karia to turn and block his attack. Uryu's arrows were close behind Ichigo, so when the later stepped aside, Karia was pierced by half a dozen quincy arrows.

Chad blasted a number of familiars out of our path so we could get close to the witch. He continued blasting away vines and sheers while avoiding targeting the main body of the witch while the rest of us set up. Sloth raised a protective barrier to encircle the witch and keep Karia's attacks from reaching the magical being that maintained this pocket dimension. Orihime took the circlet containing Sloth's Soul Gem off her head and encased it in the healing field generated by two more of her rika. As Orihime reversed the rapid corruption to Sloth's Soul Gem caused by maintaining a barrier strong enough to hold off a nuclear blast, I used a basic healing kido to replenish Orihime's spirit energy.

No longer forced to divide their attention between attacking Karia and defending the witch, Ichigo and Uryu redoubled their efforts to take down Karia. The bount was still regenerating his wounds, but even accounting for that, Ichigo and Uryu working together were inflicting more damage faster than he could heal.

Karia did try to break Sloth's barrier, sending a bolt of lightning from his blade at it, but all that did was leave him open to an arrow to the back from Uryu and a black beam of energy from Ichigo's sword. After that disastrous attempt, Karia focused on killing Ichigo. Uryu was successfully keeping his distance and didn't leave himself open to counterattack.

The familiars outside the barrier tried to kill all three combatants, but they didn't have hte speed ot land a hit with their sheers. What they did do was limit everyone's movement and mostly keep the fight in the air. Chad made short work of any familiars summoned by the witch inside Sloth's barrier, letting hte rest of us focus on maintaining it.

The outcome wasn't in question and Karia knew it. He could detonate the power he'd absorbed, but it wouldn't touch the Seireitei. Killing Ichigo was a means to an end, so blowing himself up here would be a loss even if there was nothing the rest of us could do to save him, and he had no reason to think there wasn't. All his planning and all the sacrifices he'd made amounted to nothing. Karia died with nothing to show for it.

Sloth lowered the barrier. I finished off the witch, and the labyrinth collapsed, depositing us back in the Seireitei. Releasing her transformation, Sloth picked up her Soul Gem ring and put it back on her fingers.

Ran Tao was holding her rifle and looking around frantically. I guessed she'd followed us into the labyrinth and been fighting her way through the familiars. Hitsugaya had brought Yoruichi and Byakuya as backup. They'd waited outside the witch's barrier in case things didn't go according to plan.

"It's over," reported Ichigo.

"What will you do with the surviving bounts?" asked Ran Tao.

"None of them knew what Karia was planning," I said. "I've interrogated them all extensively. I don't think they should be punished for Karia's crimes."

"The bounts are in your custody, Squad 12 Captain," said Byakuya. "It will still be a few days before the new Central 46 is seated. Until they are, the Soul Society remains under martial law. As such, it is your responsibility to determine their fate."

"I'll send out word that the state of emergency is over," said Hitsugaya.

"Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Sloth," I addressed my companions, "you all did great. Ran Tao, I'd like to speak with you in my office and get your opinion on my proposed offer for the surviving bounts."

"Of course," said the researcher, surprised.

"So, Greed," said Ichigo, "does this mean you aren't coming back with us to the world of the living?"

"I have a lot of reforms to make on this side," I said, "but I've got a lot I want to do in the human world too. I don't plan on abandoning my responsibilities in either world."

"Besides," noted Sloth, "most of the bount prisoners are in the world of the living. If nothing else, we'll have to go pick them up."

"If you can wait a day or so, we can go back together," I said. "That should give me time to get the ball rolling here."

* * *

I deactivated the surveillance devices in my new office. It was dark, with only one chair. Mayuri either didn't meet with people here, or he preferred keeping his visitors uncomfortable. I drew my wand and conjured chairs for Sloth and Ran Tao.

"Sorry about the decor," I said. "I just got this job and my predecessor was a monster. I haven't had time to redecorate."

"I've tried to keep informed about the goings on in the Seireitei," said Ran Tao. "I know Mayuri Kurotsuchi's reputation."

"Whatever you've heard, he was worse," I assured her. "Once we're done talking, I need to see someone about extracting the bombs Mayuri implanted in various of his squad members."

"I see," said Ran Tao. "In that case, we should make this quick. You said you wanted my opinion on an offer you wanted to make the bounts."

"The soul reapers are stretched thin," I said. "We have too many jobs. Hunting hollows in the world of the living, protecting the Seireitei, policing the Rukon District. There just aren't enough of us and some duties get neglected. I think the bounts can help take some of the pressure off.

"In the districts farthest from the Seireitei, I want to set up local militias. I want to offer the bounts leadership roles in these local militias."

"You're going to let them stay in the Soul Society?" confirmed Ran Tao.

"Not without conditions," I said. "Before they get the job, they'll need to swear unbreakable vows to subsist on only artificial souls and use their powers only to uphold the laws or protect those under their care. I'll throw in a clause that'll let me remove them from their positions if I find they've been abusing them."

"That sounds... better than I could have hoped for," said Ran Tao. "Back when the bounts first appeared after the accident, I advocated for giving them a place here in the Soul Society. I made promises I couldn't keep. I'm glad the ones that remain will have a chance here."

"That settled, I'd like to offer you a job as well," I said.

"I'm not even supposed to be in the Seireitei," said Ran Tao. "I was banished."

I smiled. "That's fine. Frankly, I think the Seireitei is a little too much of an all your eggs in one basket deal anyway. I'd like to set up a separate research university in the Rukon District where people with scientific training and tallent can put those abilities to use even if htey don't have spirit energy. I'd like you to head it up."

"Why me?"

"A thousand years ago, when the accident happened that created the bounts, you advocated for the Soul Society to take responsibility and find a place for the bounts. You stuck by your convictions in the face of adversity, and even now, a thousand years later, you're acting as their advocate. That's the kind of scientific ethics I want in a head researcher."

"You'd have the chance to work side by side with the bounts, improving the lives of the people neglected by the Seireitei," added Sloth.

"I'll have to think about it," said Ran Tao. "This has been... a very eventful few days."

I nodded. "Take whatever time you need. Something else to think about. One of the bounts has an ability that might be able to permanently restore your spiritual powers. He's already successfully restored Uryu's after his powers were sealed, and your situation sounds similar."

"Quincies, soul reapers, and bounts working together," mused Ran Tao. "It's a lot to think about. While I'm thinking though, you should take this notebook. It contains the locations of all the remaining Jokai generators that Central 46 had buried after the accident. After a thousand years, the seals will have weakened. They should be resealed."

"Or we could properly decommission them," I said, accepting the book. "Karia showed the bounts are capable of safely absorbing the energy of those generators. We could ask the others to do the same, and then take the generators apart instead of renewing the seals and kicking the can down the road another thousand years."

"That could work," said Ran Tao. "It would earn the bounts a lot of good will after everything that's happened."

"One last thing before you go," I said. "I'll understand if you want to keep it a trade secret, but that gun you used to fight Karia, I'd like to know more about it."

"Why do you ask?" asked Ran Tao.

"Remember how I mentioned we're spread thin?" I asked. "If it's possible to mass produce weapons like that without needing to have spirit energy yourself, they can be used to arm the militia and to be handed out to spiritually aware humans in the world of the living who could act as first responders in the event of a hollow attack."

"I suppose that's something else I'll have to think about," she said. Then she rose and bowed. "I should get going. Your offers aside, I may well have overstayed my welcome in the Seireitei."

"It was a pleasure speaking with you," I said as I showed her out. "Nemu, can I speak with you for a moment?"

The lieutenant entered. Her cuts and bruises had been healed and she was back to looking like her normal self.

"Yes, Captain?" she said.

"I'm giving you some time off," I said. "Take the next week and do whatever you feel like you need to do with your father gone. When you come back, we can talk about whether you want to stay on in the 12th division now that I'm running things."

"As you wish, Captain," she said in a neutral voice. Then she bowed and stepped out of my office.

A man with small horns on his forehead was waiting outside the office after I dismissed Nemu. "Third Seat Akon," he said. "I expect you'll want to speak with me next."

"I do. Come in," I said, directing him toward a chair. He politely declined. I sat down and said, "I've given the lieutenant some time off to grieve, but there are still a lot of things we need to do in very short order."

"What do you need from me?" asked Akon.

"For starters, I want all of the bombs removed from squad members' bodies. I also want two full backups made of our database. I need both on portable media and devices that can be used to access them."

"May I ask what this is about?"

I steepled my fingers and said, "Security. Karia broke in and could have done a lot more damage while he was here. Having off site backups protects us from needing to start over from scratch if our headquarters gets destroyed."

"I'll give the orders right away, Captain," said Akon.

"Before you go," I said, "it'll take some time to get familiar with the file system. I'd like you to bring up the data from the recorders in Sloth's reigai."

* * *

Author's comments:  
The protection and economic development of the Rukon District is going to be one of Greed's key goals during his time as an authority figure in the Soul Society.


	28. Chapter 30: An Alchemist's Victory

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 30) An Alchemist's Victory  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

For the next six hours, I poured over the data. The recordings had been made by bacteria that had been modified to record and transmit spirit energy data. The surveillance bacteria had been very thorough, gathering data not just on Sloth, but on everyone she came in contact with.

I had been correct in my assessment that the magic operating her body wasn't spirit energy. It had more in common with emissions recorded from the hogyoku. Fortunately, the data Aizen had accessed had been released to the Department of Research and Development for analysis. I had Kiske's original notes, his design schematics, and his recordings of its energy signature.

Sloth's Soul Gem and the Grief Seeds were both putting out the same kind of energy, which was otherwise unprecedented in the Soul Society, but Kyubey's creations were employing the energy in a complex, coherent fashion while Kiske's emitted it in a cruder, less controlled way.

Among other things I learned from the data, I verified that while in a body or a reigai, Sloth had a reimon signature, but that the signature bore elements of heavy encryption. This was likely tied to her immunity to telepathic contact she didn't initiate. I took out a small gold locket and scanned it into my workstation. It contained a wizard photo of Sloth taken when we were at Hogwarts together. The unencrypted reimon trace from the photograph and the Department of Research and Development's computers let me crack the encryption.

With the algorithm stored on a small data cube, I headed down to one of the labs where reigai were constructed and sat down with the equipment. I worked all through the night. Sloth brought me food to keep me going, reminding me I had to eat now. Finally, I'd finished.

The reigai itself was mostly a basic, paint by numbers tool, identical to those the Soul Society had been making for over a hundred years. It was really enough to follow the well laid out instructions and you could build a reigai. My innovation was in the brain. By using the data I'd taken from Sloth's old reigai, I installed a mechanism for decrypting her reimon signature. When it was done, Sloth set her Soul Gem on the spiritual body and transferred her consciousness into it.

"It feels okay," said Sloth, wiggling her toes. Pinching herself, she reported, "I can still regulate my pain response."

Waving a sensor over her, I confirmed, "Your reimon signature looks normal. Moment of truth. Don't transmit. Legelimense!"

On the outermost layer of Sloth's occlumency barriers, she held the words, "I love you, Greed."

Legelimency is a more complex skill than simple mind reading. It is an interactive process. I changed the thought at her outermost layer to say, in my voice, "I love you too, Sloth."

"It worked!" exclaimed Sloth, jumping off the table and into my arms. "If we can extract my memories, I can get free of my Soul Gem! You did it, Greed! You beat Kyubey!"

There were tears in both of our eyes as I hugged Sloth tight. "We still have some more tech to run when we get back to the world of the living, but yeah, I think this is it. We did it."

* * *

"Here are the backups you ordered, Captain," said Akon, placing two heavy metal cases at my feet. "The last of the surgeries to remove the bombs are underway."

"That's excellent work, Akon," I said, taking one of the cases while Sloth hefted the other. "I'm going to the world of the living to pick up some prisoners. While I'm gone, I want a full audit of all active projects. Also, can you send someone down to the Senkaimon with all the old quincy artifacts we still have in storage?"

"What are you going to do with those?" asked Akon.

"I'm returning them to the quincies," I said. "It's not much, considering what the Soul Society did to them, but it's a start."

"Working under you is going to be... different," said Akon.

"Yes, it is," I said. "Which reminds me, put a hold on all active projects that involve experimenting on sapient beings until I have a chance to review them."

"Yes, sir," he said, heading off.

I sighed and said, "Mayuri may be dead, but I still have to deal with an entire division of soul reapers he hand picked."

"I believe you can do anything," said Sloth. We shared a smile and went to meet the others at the Senkaimon.

* * *

"What's with the luggage?" asked Ichigo.

There were cases stacked up taller than the Senkaimon itself. I drew my wand, conjured a new case, applied an undetectable extension charm, and levitated all but one of those cases into it.

"The two Sloth and I have are ours," I said. "The rest are for Uryu."

"For me?" he asked.

I opened the last case with a flick of my wand. It contained thousands of quincy crosses. Some were four armed like Uryu's and some had five. Most were intact, but a few were cut, broken, or seared.

"As part of the crimes the Soul Society committed against your people, these artifacts were taken," I said. "I'm now returning what's rightfully yours."

"Thank you," said Uryu quietly as he soberly closed the case and stowed it with the others for safe transport.

* * *

It was evening when we returned to the world of the living. Sloth and I bid the others goodbye and I took Sloth's hand. I turned on the spot, but I didn't disappear.

"What happened?" asked Sloth.

I opened my shirt to reveal a stylized black tattoo representing a thistle on my left pectoral. "Captains have all but a fifth of their spirit energy restricted in the world of the living," I said. Taking my substitute badge off my belt, I added, "Substitute soul reapers have all but a tenth of their powers restricted. It looks like those two multiply and I'm operating at two percent power. It's hard to say what, if anything, I can still do."

"Then give me the badge while we travel," said Sloth. "I'm in a hurry."

I smiled, handed over the badge, and successfully apparated us back to the mansion. I quickly synchronized memories with my homunculus self, then separated and blanked the memories of homunculus me.

Sloth entered the empty homunculus body and it immediately shape shifted into her form. "I think it worked," said Sloth.

"Let's check," I said, using my substitute badge to extract her reigai.

Homunculus Sloth looked around, confused. She'd never dealt with not being able to see spirits before. Reigai Sloth merged with her homunculus self again. I again extracted Sloth's reigai, this time blanking the memories of my homunculus body. Then I climbed back in and resumed my usual form.

"Since you seem to be synchronizing properly, it's time I made you your own homunculus body again," I said with a smile.

"I'm ready," she said.

I prepared the array, gathered the ingredients, and opened the Gate. While all the knowledge of the multiverse forced itself before my mind's eye, I realized that Kiske's hogyoku design was incomplete. I saw the complete instructions for building one, and how to complete the one Kiske had.

All of that might become important later, but for now, I had to focus on the shuddering pile of twisted bones and misshapen organs my alchemy had produced. Sloth entered the body, and I started feeding it red stones. Once she had regained a human form, with her oroboros mark migrating to its original spot on her back, Sloth collapsed and let out a sigh of relief.

"So, I learned something," Sloth said. "It turns out while I'm in a homunculus body, I can't shut out the pain."

"That'd be a side effect of the synchronization process," I said. "Sorry. I should've warned you."

"If I'd thought about it for two seconds, I'd've realized it myself," said Sloth. "The whole point was to copy my consciousness out of my Soul Gem, and I can only block out pain because my consciousness soely resided in my Soul Gem."

"So, at this point, you could shatter your Soul Gem and never have to worry about becoming a witch again. I still have some spare souls I got off the Death Eaters you can use."

"But if I do that, I'll lose my powers as a magical girl," mused Sloth, staring at her Soul Gem ring. "I couldn't bring back the dead or heal incurable diseases. I'd be useless in spirit worlds, and as a soul reaper captain, you'll be spending a lot of time there. I think, for now, I'll keep my Soul Gem. It's good to know my life doesn't depend on it anymore, though."

"Okay. Now we need to get the bounts back to the Soul Society, then-"

"Greed, Stop," interrupted Sloth. "You haven't slept and you've barely eaten since the fight with Mayuri. I'm not complaining you pushed yourself to fix me as soon as possible, but you did it. It's over now. You have time to take care of the rest of it. Everything you want to do will still be there in the morning."

I took a breath and said, "You're right."

"Of course I'm right," said Sloth within a smirk. "Let's just go to bed and we'll talk about what we still have to do over breakfast tomorrow."

* * *

Sloth was up before me and had prepared a delicious pancake breakfast. We sat down at the dining room table with Mabashi to eat. He still needed conventional food to maintain his living human body in addition to the souls he had to consume to maintain his immortality. I decided to broach the topic.

"Mabashi, how would you like to come to the Soul Society with me?"

"That depends on what happened to the others who already went," said the bount, enjoying his meal.

"Karia, Swatari, and Ichinose are dead," I said. "Koga's my prisoner like Ryo and Ugaki downstairs."

"And what's waiting for me in the Soul Society?" asked Mabashi.

"Power," I said. "Bounts can regenerate using the ambient reshi in the Soul Society, and there are a set of powerful crests there that you and the others can use to increase your powers farther."

"What's the catch?"

"A job offer and a new unbreakable vow to replace the old one," I said. "Since bounts are nearly invincible in the Soul Society, I'll need that vow as a guarantee against you abusing your newly increased powers."

"What's the job?" asked Mabashi.

"I'd like for the four surviving bounts to become the sherifs of the north, south, east, and west Rukon Districts. You'd be authorized to use your powers to enforce the laws and protect the people under your care."

"It seems to me, I'm the only bount who turned on Karia willingly," said Mabashi. "That ought to have earned me a better deal than the bounts you took prisoner."

"It has," I said. "You're the only one who's allowed to say 'no'. If you don't want the job, you can walk away. The others either take the job or they die."

The bount smiled and said, "You've got yourself a deal on just one more condition. I want to be the one to make the offer to the others."

I shrugged. "Done."

* * *

After breakfast, Mabashi took his new unbreakable vow. Once it was sealed, I followed him down to the dungeon where he gleefully told Ryo and Ugaki they'd picked the wrong side. Karia was dead and now the bounts' only hope for survival was to follow his lead. Mabashi was hardly inspirational or charismatic, but there really was no other choice. I swore in my next two sheriffs.

"So, how're we getting to the Soul Society, boss?" asked Mabashi as I returned everyone's manchos and unlocked the spirit energy sealing cuffs.

"I know a guy with a Senkaimon with a spirit particle conversion machine," I said.

"Since we're using Kiske's Senkaimon, I'm sending homunculus me with you," said Sloth. "I'll grab one of the old bodies for my Soul Gem while we're in the Soul Society. I don't like taking my Soul Gem too far from Orihime, and besides, someone needs to keep up the occlumency lessons for Keigo and Tatski."

"Sounds like a plan," I said, using my substitute soul reaper badge to separate my soul reaper and homunculus selves. Sloth handed homunculus me her Soul Gem. Soul reaper me and homunculus Sloth led the bounts to Kiske's shop while homunculus me put magical girl Sloth in a body.

At Urahara's shop, Kiske greeted me and said, "After things settled down a bit in the Soul Society, I was able to get some information about those people you had me looking into. Turns out their armor matches that of one of the Soul Society's former noble houses called the Ryodoji. After a failed coup attempt a thousand years ago, they were banished to the dangai precipice world. That any of them would have been able to survive there this long is strange enough, but why they'd be targeting you is a question I can't even begin to answer."

"Isn't that around the same time as the accident that created the bounts?" I asked. "Could this be related?"

"Hard to say," said Kiske. "I suppose we'll just have to keep our eyes open for anything suspicious. And you should be extra careful when crossing the precipice world."

I nodded and said, "I will. Thanks."

* * *

Kiske's senkaimon opened into the west Rukon District. Ryo and Ugaki left for their respective domains while Sloth, Mabashi, and I went to Kukaku Shiba's house. Kukaku congratulated me on my promotion and took us down to see Koga. She was happy to get him out of her custody.

"Mabashi," said Koga as the four of us entered his cell. "They let you into the Soul Society without putting you in chains?"

"My chains aren't as visible as yours, but they're there," said Mabashi. "The rest of us have been given jobs enforcing the Soul Society's laws in the Rukon District. I'm here to offer you the same opportunity."

"And if I refuse?" asked Koga.

"Then you die," said Mabashi. "Don't be a fool, Koga. They won, but they're offering us power and authority. You know Karia wouldn't have made the soul reapers an offer half as generous if he won."

"You may be content to live as a soul reaper's slave, Mabashi, but I'm not," said Koga. "If my other option is death, let's get it over with."

"So,all that talk about wanting to improve the lives of the people in the Rukon District really was just talk," I said.

"Don't claim you're the one who really cared when you worked so hard to stop our revolution," said Koga with heat in his voice.

"Why are you so opposed to incremental change?" I demanded of the bount. "No, you don't get to rush the palace, kill the royal family, and put their heads on pikes. What you can do is bring some law to the most lawless areas of the Rukon District. Then, knowing they're safe from criminals taking everything they have, people can start building homes, businesses, pulling themselves and each other out of poverty. Take this job and you'll do a hell of a lot more good for those people than Karia would have done by blowing up the Seireitei."

Koga went quiet and contemplative for a long moment. What I'd said got to him. Finally, he said, "I won't live as a slave, even for a good cause."

"I'm not a slave!" said Mabashi. "I had to take an oath not to use my powers to harm anyone outside of the job, and I'm only allowed to eat artificial souls now, but that's it."

"I don't want or need a slave, Koga," I said. "The unbreakable vow is only so I can feel safe knowing you won't be able to restart this pointless conflict the moment I turn you loose. Beyond that, live your life however you want."

"Why?" asked Koga. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm trained as an alchemist," I said. "One of the most famous applications of the science of alchemy is turning lead into gold. Think about that for a moment, what it means to be able to take a metal that's poisonous, too soft to build with, and generally worthless, and turn it into the most valuable metal in the world. Where most people see worthless garbage, I see how to make it shine. How can you ask why I don't want to abandon the potential I see in you."

Koga didn't make me kill him. He accepted the unbreakable vow, and returned to Kusajishi after I removed his manacles. Mabashi left for his protectorate and Sloth and I headed back to the Seireitei. Once we entered the west gate, a black hell butterfly came up to me. I extended a finger for it to land on. When it did, a message only I could hear came through ordering me to the squad 1 barracks for a meeting with Captain Commander Yamamoto.

* * *

Author's comments:  
While he's never been prone to treating the idea of equivalent exchange as anything other than a physical law relating to conservation of matter, Greed has always had a philosophy grounded in alchemy. Loki was a failed experiment left to die in a lab, but Greed saw what he could become. Homunculi were originally the result of failed attempts to revive the dead, and Greed saw a way to make everyone immortal. Freeing Sloth from her Soul Gem and finding a place for the bounts is all in line with that core philosophy.


	29. Chapter 32: Squad Training and Militia R

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 32) Squad Training and Militia Recruitment  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Yamamoto was waiting for me in the main captains' meeting room. Sloth found a seat nearby and waited while I went in. As the doors closed behind me, I saw that I wasn't alone with Yamamoto. Standing off to the side of the old man was Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

"You," I said. "How the hell are you here? Did you break out of hell?"

"Of course not," said Mayuri. "Interfering with the normal operation of hell is one of the Soul Society's highest crimes. Doing so would risk the sinners escaping and agitating their guardians."

"How are you here?" I asked again.

Ignoring the heat in my voice, Mayuri responded quite casually, "I keep a backup of all my memories in a spare brain in my office in case something like this happens. Nemu was able to transfer those memories into a cloned body. It was really quite fortunate you knocked my zanpakto out of my hands before killing me. Well, fortunate for me. It's no doubt quite unfortunate for my predecessor who now has to face hell without it. Ordinarily a zanpakto dies with its soul reaper, but fortunately I'd made modifications to allow it to be passed on to my clone."

"I guess I'll need to be a lot more thorough killing you this time," I said, reaching for my zanpakto.

Suddenly, I was paralyzed by a massive spiritual pressure. I'd grown so much since Aizen crushed me with his spiritual pressure, but I once again found myself barely able to breathe. The overwhelming pressure was radiating in waves off the old man who hadn't moved a muscle.

"Enough," said Yamamoto with finality. "I will not have two of my captains fighting one another. Is that clear?"

His spiritual pressure withdrew enough to let us speak again, but it remained slightly elevated as an unspoken threat. I got the message and lowered my hands to my sides.

"Yes, Head Captain," Mayuri and I said.

"Captain Greed won the captaincy of the 12th division fairly," said Yamamoto. "The specifics of his restoration aside, Captain Kurotsuchi retains his memories and powers, and as such requiring him to retake the captain's exam which he has already passed would be a waste of time. The defection of Soske Aizen, Gin Ichimaru, and Kaname Tosen has left us three openings.

"Captain Kurotsuchi has expressed interest in resuming his position as Captain of Squad 12, but as you defeated him in a recognized duel, your claim to that position has priority. You may continue as Captain of Squad 12, or you can accept one of the other open captain positions. I will need a decision."

What I wanted was to kill him and make it stick, but Yamamoto had made it very clear that wasn't an option. One way or another, Mayuri was going to become a captain again, and I was out of loopholes that would let me attack him. Now it was up to me to decide where he could do the most good, or the least damage.

"I'm willing to give you Squad 12 back, but I want something from you in return," I said.

"You've already pilfered my data," said Mayuri. "What else could you possibly want?"

"The people you had turned into bombs. I want them transferred alive and without risk of exploding to my new squad," I said. "I made a commitment to them when I had the bombs removed."

"Is that all?" asked Mayuri. "Very well. They were the least valuable members of my squad anyway."

I removed the coat and tossed it to Mayuri, who put it on.

Turning to Yamamoto, I said, "I don't know much about the other three squads. Which would you say needs me the most?"

Yamamoto took a long moment to consider before saying, "All three squads have lost their captains to treason. Their respective lieutenants have been running the squads in their absence. Lieutenant Momo Hinamuri of Squad 5 was badly injured during Aizen's betrayal. Her injuries have left the squad largely without leadership."

"Squad 5 it is," I said. "I'll get Momo back on her feet and see about whipping Aizen's former squad into shape to crush him."

"In the meantime, I'll get to work assessing the damage you've managed to do during your brief time commanding my squad," said Mayuri.

Yamamoto gave me a new captain's coat and directions to the squad 5 barracks. I left first.

"What was that all about?" asked Sloth.

I pointed my thumb at Mayuri who was coming out after me. "He left a clone that Yamamoto put back in charge of Squad 12. I'm running Squad 5 now."

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Sloth.

"No. Not within the Soul Society's laws," I said. "And that speech I gave Koga about incremental change is still ringing in my ears. We lost this round. Come on. It turns out there was one more person we should've healed before we left the Soul Society the first time."

* * *

Momo was a waifishly thin young woman who wore her dark hair up in a bun. Aizen had practically gutted her. She'd only recently been moved from an emergency room in the Squad 4 barracks. She looked distraught when I came in wearing my new captain's coat.

"They've already replaced Captain Aizen?" asked Momo.

"My name is Greed," I said. "I'm not sure how up to date you are on recent events, but I've just been made Captain of Squad 5."

"Captain Aizen's coming back," said Momo. "I'm sure of it. None of this is what it looks like."

"It looks like he stabbed you and left you to bleed out," said Sloth.

"Who are you?" asked Momo.

"This is my wife, Sloth," I introduced her. "She has some healing abilities Squad 4 can't match."

"I can't use them just now," said Sloth. "They rely on an artifact I left in the world of the living, but once I get it, you'll be on your feet as good as new."

"Once you're back up, I'm going to need your help," I said. "I jumped a lot of ranks and skipped a lot of training with how I became captain. You know your fellow squad members and the Seireitei better than I do. There are a lot of things I want to do, and without your advice, I could end up wasting valuable time going about it the wrong way."

"Captain, can I investigate why Captain Aizen left? The real reason," asked Momo.

"If Aizen has an excuse for his actions, I want to hear it," I said. "If your other duties have been completed, I authorize you to conduct an investigation, but you need to report everything you find, good or bad, to me. Is that understood?"

"Thank you, Captain," said Momo.

"You might not thank me by the time your investigation's over," I said. "I'll leave a list of leads on your desk when you're feeling better. Everything from the hollowfication incident a hundred years back to Kaien Shiba's recent first hand testimony of working under Aizen in Hueco Mundo."

"Is it a good idea to let her investigate?" asked Sloth when we left Momo's room.

"No one can convince her what Aizen was," I said. "She has to realize it for herself, and investigating his activities will be more effective than trying to talk her out of it. Besides, she could be right, and if she is, I want to see the proof."

"I hope you're right," said Sloth. "Why don't you inspect your troops while I swap places with the other me? She should've finished the occlumency lesson by now."

"Be careful in the dangai," I reminded her.

* * *

Squad 5 was typical so far as that term could be applied to divisions in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. The seated officers had achieved shikai and were competent enough with offensive kido to use thirties level spells reliably in battle. The unseated officers below them barely qualified as having spirit energy at all, relying on basic swordsmanship to deal with their enemies. They were skilled enough to take down a basic hollow one on one, but the first time one pulled out an unexpected trick, they'd be snack food.

Not one of my squad members was trained in healing. They looked down on Squad 4, pawned off their chores on them, and still expected to rely on them as their sole option in the event they got injured. That was changing starting now.

"Okay, soldiers, listen up," I said, drawing their attention as a collective after having observed them silently and chatted with my higher seated officers. "My name is Greed. As I'm sure you've all worked out by now, I've been assigned as your new captain.

"I'm sure under Captain Aizen, you had a comfortable routine, training schedules, patrol assignments, holiday traditions. Well, all that's over now. Squad 5 will be changing radically, and the changes are going to keep coming again and again until I'm satisfied with the shape of this squad. You can expect expanded training times, both individually and as a unit, new regulations, and a reorganization of personnel as I transition this division from medieval to modern standard as quickly as I can.

"At the moment, you are all far less than I know you're capable of being, and I won't stop pushing you until you realize that potential. By the time I'm through, you will be the envy of the Seireitei. Stronger than Squad 11, faster than Squad 2, better equipped than Squad 12. Some of you are going to hate me for how much work I put you through to get you there, but you will get there.

"Now, the first change is going to be simple. Any squad member I learn has been antagonizing the members of other squads gets to duel me personally. You'll eventually be required to cross train in healing kido, but even after we can handle injuries in squad, pissing off the members of the relief squad is stupid, and I won't tolerate stupid in my division. That likewise goes for not pissing off the combat divisions who might need to bail your ass out of trouble at some point.

"I know the other squads aren't enforcing a rule like this. It's called leading by example. Now, if someone from another squad picks a fight, go ahead and finish it, but if any of you pick a fight, I'll be the one to finish it. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," came the immediate response of my squad. At least there was some level of preexisting military discipline. I wouldn't be starting from scratch.

* * *

It was lunch time at the Karakura High School. Renji had stayed in the Soul Society after the bount issue had been resolved, but Rukia had come back with us to help deal with the hollows. Sloth had finished the day's occlumency lesson that morning. I was looking over Tatski and Keigo's alchemy homework.

Both had managed a simple transmutation in their first lesson, and now I had them memorizing compositions of wood, pavement, glass, and the other materials commonly found in the city. They weren't getting a comprehensive alchemy education like Ron, at least not yet. For now, they were getting a crash course in combat alchemy. They were both progressing faster than I expected. In another day or two, I expected. In another day or two, I could hand out red stones and give them some sparring practice.

At that point, Sloth stepped into the room. As she was already in the room, that drew some looks. Ignoring the questions, the second Sloth came up to her other self and said, "I need the ring. Something's come up. I'll take over here."

"You didn't tell me your girlfriend had a twin sister," said Keigo.

"Don't even think about it," I said. "I'm dating both of them."

"What? No fair," whined Keigo.

When Sloth's Soul Gem ring changed hands, the Sloth who'd been here collapsed, but was caught by her other self. Apparently, the Soul Gem synchronized with the reigai still inside Sloth's homunculus body. I came up to Sloth and expelled her reigai with a glove since soul reaper me had my badge.

I didn't have the Mad Eye in, so I couldn't see Sloth's spirit body get out of her homunculus and possess the empty corpse. "Thanks, Greed. Got to go. She'll explain everything," said the Sloth who was putting on her Soul Gem ring as she ran off.

"What was that all about?" asked Uryu.

"Bad news," said the Sloth who stayed behind. "Mayuri turned out to not be as dead as we hoped."

"What?" I asked. "What happened? Was the other me killed? Is that why you ran off so fast with your Soul Gem?"

"You're fine," said Sloth. "You gave Mayuri back Squad 12, and now you're running Squad 5. I'm sure you'll be back home tonight so you can synchronize."

"What do you mean he's not dead?" asked Uryu.

"He cloned himself," said Sloth. "He kept a backup of his memories we didn't know about. I'm sorry, Uryu."

"Who's this Mayuri guy?" asked Tatski.

"A mad scientist," said Orihime.

Tatski looked to us for confirmation and we nodded.

"I'm surprised they let you keep your captain's position after Captain Kurotsuchi turned back up," said Rukia.

"If they hadn't, I'd've been free to try again," I reasoned. "Yamamoto probably didn't give me a choice. This way, he has both ofus filling captain's positions instead of needing to choose one or the other. Did I at least get something out of it?"

"You got all the former bombs transferred to Squad 5 with you so Mayuri can't hurt them again," said Sloth.

"It's something," I said.

* * *

Sloth arrived back in the Soul Society while I was running my squad members through a series of assignments to verify their current levels of competence at swordsmanship, hand to hand combat, kido, and flash step. I finished off the timed foot race then joined Sloth in Momo's room.

"What was that?" asked Momo, sitting up and experimentally flexing her fingers. "I feel incredible. All the pain's gone."

"It better be," said Sloth, "with what I had to trade for these powers."

Getting out of bed, Momo checked her range of movement then looked over to Sloth and I. Bowing, she said, "Thank you so much."

"How are you feeling mentally?" I asked. "Sloth's powers are supposed to be able to heal psychological trauma too."

"I don't know," said Momo. "I remember what happened. I was so happy when I found him alive in the Central 46 compound. Then, he stabbed me when I went to him. It... it isn't as painful to think about anymore. I think that's the most I've been able to say about it since it happened."

Sloth let out a breath she was holding. "As much as that little rat hid about the contract, I did get what I wished for. The healing didn't force her to think anything in particular. It just cleared away the haze of pain that was holding her back."

"Who's this rat?" asked Momo.

"His name was Kyubey," said Sloth. "It was a strange looking white creature who grants wishes in exchange for the souls of teenage girls. I wished for unparalleled healing powers. I can cure any illness or injury, physical or mental, even to the point of bringing back the dead."

"There were some pretty severe down sides," I said. "I nearly lost her. Coming to this world in the first place was about undoing some of the damage Kyubey did to her."

"You can cure anything?" asked Momo.

"That was my wish," confirmed Sloth.

"Have you told Captain Ukitake?" asked Momo. "He's had a lung disease since he was a child. Captain Unohana treats him pretty often, and when it isn't bothering him, he's one of the strongest captains, but it always comes back."

"We'll have to pay him a visit," I said.

"You don't have to tag along," said Sloth. "You've got enough on your plate whipping these guys into shape. I'll go talk to Ukitake."

"Okay," I said. "I'll be finishing up the assessments, then setting up a training schedule with Momo. Once that's done, I want to check in with Ran Tao and see if she's considered my offer. Maybe meet me at the gate to West Rukon?"

"I'll be there," said Sloth.

* * *

Momo was a big help scheduling squad wide training exercises. We were going to start with the basics and move up from there. Once I was confident of their individual skills, we'd be moving on to group exercises and eventually war games. With luck, the heavy training at the start of my tenure would help integrate the new transfers from Squad 12.

When I arrived at the gate to West Rukon, Sloth had her Soul Gem out and was staring at it contemplatively.

"Complex feelings about your contract?" I asked.

Sloth started, catching her fumbled Soul Gem. "Greed, I didn't see you come up."

"Didn't mean to sneak up on you," I said.

"It's not really fair," said Sloth. "You get a passive sense that tells you how strong people are and where they are, and I'm limited to actively using my 100 meter telepathy as a proximity sensor."

"I'm sure there are all kinds of ways we can upgrade your reigai."

"That's okay," said Sloth. "I was just grousing. I know you'll be jumping at the chance to give me more powers as soon as you know enough to do it safely. Don't take that as a request to prioritize super senses."

I smiled and said, "Okay."

We waved to Jidanbo as we exited the gate together. After walking a bit down the path, Sloth said, "Something strange happened when I went to heal Ukitake."

"Strange?" I asked.

"My Soul Gem flared, but nothing happened. I expected a chronic illness bad enough to take one of the stronger captains out of commission to take a lot of magic to heal, but my Gem didn't deplete at all. It's like he wasn't sick. I mean, he didn't look sick, but I've cured diseases in remission before."

"Maybe Unohana's last treatment cured him once and for all," I suggested.

"I suppose that's possible," said Sloth. "Still, I've got a funny feeling about it."

"Ready to apparate?" I asked.

In response, Sloth took my hand. I turned on the spot and we vanished from the area nearest the Seireitei and appeared just outside Ran Tao's underground home.

"Ran Tao, are you home?" I called out.

"You're back," said Ran Tao with surprise as she opened the hatch.

"You said you weren't allowed in the Seireitei, so I had to come out to you," I said. "Have you thought about my offer?"

"I have," she said. "I've spent the last thousand years waiting and preparing for the bounts' return. Now that they're here, I'd like to get back to scientific research. You've got yourself a deal."

"Excellent," I said. "The first thing I'll need from you is a list of requirements for your facilities. Keep in mind, we'll be expanding our staff of researchers and technicians for some time as we tap into the relatively untouched pool of talent here in the Rukon District."

"How should I get word to you?" asked Ran Tao.

"I'll be sending a messenger in... let's say, a week. Once I have your requirements, I can get to work hiring architects, carpenters, and construction workers. If you don't hear from me after a week, ask Jidanbo to pass along a message to me."

"Your number," said Ran Tao. "You aren't in charge of Squad 12 anymore?"

"Mayuri Kurotsuchi left a backup of his memories and put them in a clone," I said. "The clone is running Squad 12 and I've been put in charge of Squad 5."

"Then it's a good thing I waited before giving you this," said Ran Tao as she handed me a notebook. "It has schematics for all the devices I've made since leaving the Seireitei, as well as the details of the process I've used to extend my lifespan."

"I appreciate you trusting me with this," I said. "Once the new building's up, I'll be making my contribution. Before leaving Squad 12, I got my hands on a full backup copy of their database."

"With that, we could... I don't even know," admitted Ran Tao.

"I look forward to finding out alongside you," I said before taking my leave.

I'd used red stones to assimilate the information in her notebook before I'd taken three steps away from her home. I'd been right in my previous assessment that her technology was going to be a game changer.

"I'm surprised you still have any red stones left after assimilating Mayuri's database," said Sloth.

"I haven't done it yet," I said. "I'm afraid to. I vomited just from assimilating those books. This is going to be so much worse. It's his entire database. Every crime, every experiment, every pointless cruelty, and every person who helped him do it."

Sloth took my hand and said, "I'll be there. If something happens, I can cure you."

"Thanks," I said, squeezing her hand and apparating back to the west gate of the Seireitei.

Neither Sloth, nor I were in physical bodies, so we could use the main Senkaimon instead of the one that had been set up with a spirit particle conversion machine. It was evening when we returned to the world of the living. Apparating back to the mansion, we found our homunculus selves sharing a meal of red stones. We climbed inside our respective bodies and synchronized our memories.

* * *

Assimilating Mayuri's database cost me every red stone I had save for the two I'd set aside for Tatski and Keigo. The sheer scale of the atrocities Mayuri had committed left me in a catatonic state. I was aware of far worse things, like the Incubators and their multi-billion year plot of psychologically breaking an untold number of sentient beings to harvest their energy. The difference here was those countless tortured beings, Sloth aside, were statistics. Mayuri's reports had enough detail on each test subject to get a sense of who they were and just how frightened and in pain they were in Mayuri's lab.

The crimson light of Sloth's Soul Gem cut through the haze of empathetic pain and allowed me to focus. There was nothing to be done for these victims now. I could do far more good plundering this information for useful tools and putting them to use than I could sitting around feeling awful about things I couldn't change.

There were technical schematics for every tool the Department of Research and Development had. There was enough information about the substitute soul reaper badges for me to turn individual functions on or off with a touch. I wouldn't need to throw it away when I wanted to access my full power or have some privacy anymore.

The recipe for Mayuri's regeneration potion was in there, along with a number of other potions that could be of use in combat. Among them, an extremely potent sensory enhancement drug that could cause its user to experience seconds as centuries. In diluted form, it would allow me to think and perceive fast enough to finally make full use of my red stone enhanced speed.

When the red light of Sloth's Soul Gem faded, my helplessness, anger, and depression had been replaced with an almost manic energy. I separated my homunculus and soul reaper selves with my badge. Homunculus me started a number of cauldrons bubbling and settled in for an all nighter. Sou reaper me, who still needed food and rest left the other me to his work and led Sloth out of the lab.

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Sloth.

"I just need to get something practical out of that soon," I said. "The sensor networks and communication arrays aren't a one man job to set up and run, but there were enough drugs in there to make a set of really effective combat enhancing potions for the next big fight."

"You've already got a pretty effective cocktail," said Sloth.

"This'll take it to the next level," I assured her.

"You want to be ready when the Ryodoji show up," said Sloth.

"We weren't ready for the bount and we lost people," I said.

Sloth nodded. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing to be prepared. I do think you might be getting some tunnel vision about what form that preparation can take."

"What do you mean?"

"You're making weapons and training an army, but did you think ot look up the details of their failed coup?"

"It was a thousand years ago," I said. "Longer for them if you account for the fact that time runs 2000 times faster in the dangai where they were banished to. Nothing of the people involved in that coup will have survived."

"They're wearing the same armor," said Sloth. "A thousand years ago, they had some sort of trump card they thought would let them succeed in their coup. Don't you think it'd be a god idea to find out what it was?"

"I should've thought of that," I said.

"Don't beat yourself up too bad," said Sloth. "You've had a lot on your plate."

* * *

A good night's sleep in my lover's arms helped me clear my head. Sloth had been right about me developing tunnel vision. The Ryodoji were growing ever closer in my foeglass, putting me under pressure, making me feel like there wasn't enough time to accomplish everything I wanted to do in the few days remaining, especially with all the new responsibilities I'd taken on in the Soul Society.

I'd discarded my time turner as an option because it wouldn't be practical to use to accelerate my squad's training. That I could use it to train them and do other things at the same time had somehow slipped my mind. Bringing my time turner to the Soul Society would require using Kiske's senkaimon until I built my own, but I could cast an hour reversal charm myself, so taking the artifact with me wasn't really necessary.

When I was up and dressed, I drew my zanpakto, thrust it into empty air, and turned it like a key. The Soul Society's main senkaimon was designed to respond to that gesture by opening a gate right in front of me. As I stepped inside, I noticed a second senkaimon opening into the room out of the corner of my eye and my future self stepping out of it.

The first thing I did on entering the Soul Society was head out the west gate and talk with Jidanbo, the guardian giant of the west gate. His hair was a precious resource I could use to make wands. Jidanbo wore a long ponytail, and even the clippings from evening it out would be enough to fashion wands for my whole squad. He was happy to provide me with the discarded hair clippings, which he was just going to throw out anyway.

Those in hand, I took a long walk through the Rukon District. I kept an eye out for trees bearing wand quality wood. At each town, I stopped to make wands and chat with the townsfolk. I spread word about the new university being set up and the militia. We'd need people with all kinds of skills to make those projects a success and the Rukon District had all the talent I could possibly want.

I spent a subjective week wandering lazily, stopping to sleep under the trees and multiplying the meager meals of whoever was willing to share into a feast for the whole town. At length, I reached Kusajishi and met up with Koga and Ran Tao.

"I've been recruiting," I said as I approached the pair in the town center. "There are a lot of ex-military interested in the militia and enough gunsmiths, metalurgists, and chemists to supply us with kido guns once they see the schematics and get to work. Like I thought, there are a ton of former academics chomping at the bit to be involved in our new university."

"You're moving faster than I thought," said Ran Tao.

"My goal is to get things to a nice, stable, self-sustaining equilibrium," I said. "Once the militia and the university are up and running, I'm hoping the momentum will keep things rapidly improving for the people here."

"Do you really think it's just a lack of law that's held these people back?" asked Koga. "Policemen and soldiers die every day. They could have organized and established order at any time."

"Until someone with spirit energy came along," I said. "The only people in the world who can starve are also the people with the power to just take what they want. The more law abiding join the soul reapers in the Seireitei. Everyone else stays out here where no one can match them.

"Whats going to make a difference is Ran Tao's weapons and you bounts standing on the side of law and order outside the Seireitei. I think you'll be surprised how quickly people will gravitate back toward civilization if given half a chance."

"And if not, those forces can at least protect the university," noted Ran Tao.

"Can we sit down? Maybe have some tea?" I asked. "The bounts aren't the only dirty little thousand year old secret that's decided now is the time to make trouble. Around the same time as the initial incident that led to the creation of the bounts, a noble house called the Ryodoji attempted a coup and were banished to the dangai precipice world for it. I was hoping you remembered the details."

"We should get that tea," said Ran Tao. "It's a long story."

Once we all had sat down with a steaming cup in front of us, Ran Tao began her tale.

"How much do you know about the quincies?" asked Ran Tao.

"I know the Soul Society carried out a near complete genocide on them," I said. "A more thorough one than they did on the bounts."

"The soul reapers and quincies have been at war with each other far longer than most people realize," said Ran Tao. "A thousand years ago, the quincies amassed an army and invaded the Soul Society itself. They were defeated, but not without heavy losses.

"You've seen your quincy friend fight, but I promise you, his abilities are nothing compared to the ones who attacked the Soul Society back then, especially their leader, Yhwach. Head Captain Yamamoto had to use his bankai to defeat him, something he hasn't needed to do again for the last thousand years. I didn't think Yhwach was even killed in the battle just horribly injured and taken away from the battlefield by what remained of the quincies' retreating forces."

"That attack left scars," I reasoned, "poisoning all attempts at reconciliation in the millenium since. What does this have to do with the Ryodoji?"

"In addition to the main senkaimon, high ranking noble families maintain private senkaimons on their estates," explained Ran Tao. "The Ryodoji allied themselves with the quincies, allowing their army passage not just into the Soul Society, but into the Seireitei itself. They made the entire invasion possible. For their crimes, the Ryodoji were banished to the precipice world and their property seized and redistributed."

"They're going to make a move soon," I said, looking down at the dregs of the bottom of my cup. "At first, I thought they might be targeting me for some reason, but I'm starting to think their intentions might be bigger than that. As I read the tea leaves, things look worse and worse. The signs point to a terrible crisis that can only be averted by the sacrifice of an innocent."

"Your palm readings said I was the only bount who was supposed to live," Koga reminded me.

I nodded. "Prophecies aren't foolproof. AT least, not the ones I know how to make."

* * *

I spent an afternoon with Koga, training in the bounts' technique for hiding my spiritual pressure. It wasn't something I was going to master in a day, but I was staring to pick up the basics. After the session I returned to the Seireitei that morning and made preparations for the day's training with the squad.

"Today, we'll be working on swordsmanship," I said when Momo had assembled the troops. "I know you never would've graduated from the academy if you weren't competent with a sword, but based on what I saw yesterday, there's a lot of room for improvement."

There was some grumbling as everyone set their zanpaktos down along a bench and took wooden training swords out of a barrel. The squad lined up and Momo took her place up front. I brought her a box containing the day's training aids I'd prepared.

"Leutenant Hinamori, please pass these out and make sure everyone is wearing them," I said, handing over the box. "These are the first of several new training aids I'll be introducing over the coming weeks. You may recognize them as the same manacles we use to restrain prisoners with spiritual powers. I've replaced the lock with a simple latch and removed the chain connecting the manacles to one another."

I snapped the pair of bracers I took onto my own wrists as I continued. "Spirit energy is a powerful weapon, but it can impede your training when the exercise isn't about learning to use that spirit energy. In swordsmanship, it lets you get away with poorer stances and sloppier techniques because it can make you stronger and faster than your opponent. Wearing these bracers during training means we'll all be on the same level of strength and speed so we can focus on shoring up the weaknesses of our technique."

The grumbling and grousing quieted as the training got underway and it really struck home for many of them just how much they'd been relying on their spirit energy to make up for weak techniques. I needed this just as much, if not more than they did. Most of my swordsmanship training had taken place in my homunculus body, which had the same issue I pointed out to them multiplied a hundred fold. Being afraid to show weakness in front of them would hamper both my growth and their trust, neither of which I could afford.

Seeing just how many of them were better swordsmen than me did embolden a minority to question how I was made captain in the first place. I let the questions linger after our long morning training session stopped for lunch. When we got back to the training grounds, I had everyone take off their bracers and Momo handed out the next training aid.

"Kido training is in many ways, the opposite of swordsmanship," I began. "Stronger, more precisely controlled spirit energy is essential to effective kido use in combat and in improving the breadth and power of your spells. The objects each of you are holding in your hands are called wands. Casting your spells using a wand will be many times easier than casting without comparable tot he difference in difficulty with or without the chant."

Some of my unseated officers who'd never really mastered even the lowest level kido spells stared at their wands in awe after successfully casting spells they'd been struggling with for years. The higher ranked soul reapers attempted and succeeded at casting spells ten levels above their previous limit. Any question about whether I deserved my rank vanished when I switched off the power limiter on my badge, sealed a practice dummy in cloth wrappings, riveted to the ground, and pinned beneath a massive conjured metal cube using the highest level sealing spell the Soul Society had, Bakudo 99, then immediately destroyed the dummy and the seals both using Hado 90 to encase them in a coffin of black and purple energy impaled by similarity composed blades, then compressing the construct.

I was gasping for breath with how much the two spells had taken out of me, but there wasn't a whisper suggesting I was too weak to be in charge after that point. Everyone was pushing themselves, trying to see how much farther they could go. Optimism was suffusing the squad after seeing themselves accomplish things they'd previously accepted as beyond their limits.

Our day of training over, I headed back to the senkaimon feeling accomplished. On the way, I was intercepted by Toshiro Hitsugaya, Captain of Squad 10.

"I've heard about your transfer to Squad 5," he said. "In a way, I'm grateful Kurotsuchi's back. Since you were moved to Squad 5, Momo's improved immensely."

"If we'd realized how injured she was, Sloth would've healed her before we left the Soul Society the first time," I said.

"Aizen's betrayal caused a lot of us more pain than we'd like to admit most days," said Toshiro. "Momo was hit hardest, both physically and emotionally. It's good to see her recovering."

"Are you close?" I asked.

"We grew up together," said Toshiro. "Momo's like a sister to me. I'm going to kill Aizen for hurting her like that."

"I didn't have any siblings," I said. "It wasn't until joining the military back in my world that I really started developing close bonds with other people."

Toshiro nodded. "My spirit energy developed early and frightened away most of my village. Momo was one of the only people who stayed by me."

The temperature dropped a few degrees, and suddenly what had felt like a bit of amiable small talk seemed a lot more menacing. Captain Hitsugaya looked young, but Sloth had long trained me out of assessing how dangerous someone could be based on their apparent age.

"You sought me out when I was alone," I said. "Why?"

"I had to make sure we understood one another," said Toshiro. "The Soul Society's laws say you can do whatever you like with the members of your squad, but if you do anything to hurt Momo, I will kill you , no matter what the Head Captain or Central 46 say."

He couldn't have predicted what I did next, which was the only reason I managed to get inside his guard. He had one hand on the hilt of his zanpakto when I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a hug. Toshiro blinked in confusion.

"What are you doing?" he asked, confused and annoyed.

"It's just such a relief to meet another human being," I said, clinging to him. "Byakuya dragging his sister back for execution, everyone turning a blind eye to Mayuri's crimes, Yamamoto fighting to carry out an unjust execution because the people in charge seemingly ordered it. I was starting to worry I'd be dealing with that insane lawefulness for the rest of my life. Then you come along and threaten to kill me to protect Momo. Thank you so much."

"Let go of me," Toshiro said as he struggled out of my grasp then looked at me like I was crazy.

"You don't have anything to worry about," I said. "I won't do anything to harm Momo or any other member of my squad. So that you know we understand one another, if anyone tries to harm Sloth, no one will ever find their body."

That last sentence was delivered with deadly seriousness, after which I vanished into the past with a wordless, wandless hour reversal spell. I'd beaten Mayuri because I'd prepared for Mayuri, setting up counters for his abilities and choosing the most advantageous battleground. And Mayuri was the weakest of the captains. Toshiro's threat wasn't an empty one. Which was why it was so important I not let fear show and that I leave the conversation in a way that left him off balance and not sure what had just happened. I liked him, but that didn't mean I could afford to back down in a dominance display.

* * *

Author's comments:  
This chapter has the start of my extrapolations of the first quincy war and how it ties in with the filler material from the anime and the movies. The fact that everything seems to have happened a thousand years ago was what made the connection for me.


	30. Chapter 33: Quincy Lore and Alchemy Trai

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 33) Quincy Lore and Alchemy Training  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Back in the world of the living, the same morning I left, I got back into my homunculus body and synchronized memories. Homunculus me had prepared a number of enhancement potions for different circumstances as well as a good stock of regenerative drugs to go with my existing healing potions. I filled Sloth in on where I'd been and what I'd been doing over breakfast. What I'd learned about the Ryodoji made it important to talk to Uryu.

I wasn't really getting anything out of the lessons at the high school, so I took advantage of the time sitting there to get some training in. By shape shifting away my eardrums, I deafened myself then tried to follow along with the lesson by lip reading. I was going to need this both to allow me to follow conversations in homunculus form and to help me prepare to counter Tosen's zanpakto ability.

When class got out, I regenerated my eardrums and used my substitute badge to separate my homunculus and soul, reaper selves. Homunculus me went with Tatski and Keigo to continue with their alchemy training while soul reaper me approached Uryu.

"Would this be a good time to work on that training we talked about?" I asked.

Uryu looked me over and said, "Did you have to get out of your body before asking me that?"

"The other me's teaching Tatski and Keigo how to fight using alchemy," I said. "I won't need my spirit energy with them, but I'll need it with you if you're ready to teach us how to mask our spirit energy."

Uryu hesitated, then said, "I don't want quincy techniques spreading through the soul reapers' ranks. I'll teach you, but you have to promise me you'll keep it to yourselves."

Ichigo, Rukia, and I looked at each other and nodded. I spoke for us when I said, "We promise."

Chad, Orihime, Ichigo, Rukia, and I followed Uryu out to the training ground where he'd previously spoken with his grandfather. Sloth having no spirit energy to hide and suspecting those techniques wouldn't work for her decided to join homunculus me teaching alchemy to Tatski and Keigo.

While we walked, I said, "A group of soul reapers appeared in my foeglass a few days ago. I did some looking into them and apparently they're called the Ryodoji. They used to be a noble family until they sided with the quincies in a war with the Soul Society a thousand years ago."

"I've never heard of them," said Rukia.

"That's not surprising," said Uryu. "The Soul Society wouldn't want to spread around the fact that one of their noble houses had sided with the quincies."

"Do you know anything about them?" I asked.

"Not much," said Uryu. "I don't recognize the name, but I do know a bit about the war you're talking about. It was the first time the soul reapers and the quincies went to war. Leading the battle was a man called Yhwach. He was said to be the father of all quincies. He had the power to grant quincy powers to anyone he liked. He used the promise of increased powers to lure a number of soul reapers to his side. The Ryodoji must be the descendants of one of those groups."

"Quincy powers breed true, don't they?" I asked. "That would mean we could be facing a threat from soul reapers with quincy powers."

"Assuming they ever got the power they were promised," said Uryu. "The quincies lost the battle and Yhwach was defeated."

"Still, something to look out for when they made their move," I mused. Then I tossed Uryu a syringe. "Going through Mayuri's data I learned he infected you with surveillance bacteria. That antibiotic'll kill them."

"You couldn't have mentioned this sooner?" demanded Uryu.

"I found out last night," I said. "I was up all night making the cure."

"That's how Nemu knew about this place," said Uryu, injecting the cure into his arm.

"It's pretty fast acting," I said. "You should be clean by now. I should probably shut off the surveillance devices in the substitute badges before we get started."

"Survailance devices in our badges?" demanded Ichigo.

"Substatute soul reapers haven't always been as friendly with the Soul Society as you," said Rukia.

"So, I was right about the way Joshiro phrased the explanation about the badges being suspicious," said Ichigo.

"Are you okay, Ichigo?" asked Orihime.

"If he'd really wanted to hide it from me, I'd've never found out," said Ichigo. "With my inner hollow rattling around inside my head, a power limiter and a tracking device is a really good idea."

"I'll switch it back on after Uryu's done with the training," I said, deactivating the surveillance component of both badges.

* * *

"These are called red stones," I said, handing Tatski and Keigo the two remaining amplifiers.

"Who came up with that name?" joked Keigo.

Ignoring him, I explained, "These will allow you to perform alchemy without a transmutation circle. They can also bypass the law of equivalent exchange and create matter from nothing, but I don't recommend it. Each red stone has a limited charge and equivalence violations drain it more quickly. If the glow from your red stone fades even slightly, stop using it immediately. When they run out of power, a nasty backlash happens and even the handful of people who've survived a backlash came away permanently mutilated."

Keigo swallowed hard and said, "Got it."

"This empty warehouse is a good place to practice," said Sloth. "It's isolated and the concrete floor is pretty close to what you'll be working with fighting a hollow in the street."

"To make this as realistic as possible, Sloth and I will be shape shifting into hollows. You'll need to use lethal force. Don't worry about hurting us. We're both immortal, unlike a real hollow."

"Immortal?" asked Tatski. "How'd you manage that?"

"Year four of your alchemy training covers that if you stick with it," I said with a smirk.

Then Sloth and I transformed ourselves into approximations of hollows, complete with a hole straight through our chests where our hearts should be. We had to apply some carbon hardening and reroute nerves to keep the hole from leaving us paralyzed due to also passing right through where the spine should be. The two of us towered over our opponents. We'd drilled on this, but facing a hideous giant monster intent on eating your soul wasn't something easy to prepare for.

I took a menacing step toward Tatski, which snapped her out of her shock at my appearance. Holding her red stone in a fist, she slapped her other palm on the ground. Red alchemic light arced from the point of contact along the ground. Beneath my feet, a nest of three foot long spikes impaled my left leg. I dropped to my three remaining limbs and rushed her, my double jaw opening to bite her in half. Tatski transmuted more spikes that ran through my chest and stomach.

I'd taken it slower than a real hollow would, but there would be time to work on her reflexes later. This exercise had been about using red stones under stress and being willing to attack lethally, and Tatski had passed with flying colors.

Keigo had taken a more defensive approach, running away from Sloth and raising concrete barriers in her path using his red stone. Sloth crashed through them as she pursued Keigo in circles through the warehouse. On the one hand, it wasn't the lethal intent we were going for. On the other hand, it was a creative application of his powers under pressure. I could work with it.

* * *

At the quincy training ground, Uryu explained this exercise.

"Hollows are attracted to humans with high levels of spirit energy. I'm going to attract a small group of hollows with a piece of bait. Once they arrive, instead of fighting them, you'll need to evade them. The forest has plenty of hiding places and it's far enough from town that any hollows who lose track of you won't just move on to other victims."

"Is this really a good idea?" asked Ichigo. "The last time you used that stuff it called a Menos Grande."

"We're isolated enough that if a Menos does show up, I can destroy it with alchemy without worrying too much about collateral damage," I said.

"Oh, like you did the last one?" said Ichigo. "No, wait, it was me that had to drive it off."

"We've all gotten stronger since then," said Chad. "I'm willing to take the risk if it's just us."

Uryu broke a small disc of hollow bait between his fingers. A moment later, half a dozen portals opened releasing hungry hollows. I quickly hid behind a tree and suppressed my spiritual pressure as best I could.

This high stakes game of hide and seek lasted well into the evening. I was found by the hollows a dozen times, each time being forced to run for my life. Between my badge and the seal applied to my body when I passed through the senkaimon, I didn't have enough spirit energy available to perform a flash step.

Each time one of us broke cover, Uryu would come out, advise us on what we were doing right and wrong, and draw off the hollows to give us a chance to hide and try again. What Koga had explained about the bount version of this technique started me off with an advantage, but everyone was showing noticeable improvement by the end of the session. Everyone, that is, except Ichigo.

Ichigo was having a lot of trouble reigning his power in, and was sniffed out by the hollows again and again. He was incredibly frustrated and cut down all six hollows the instant Uryu called a stop for the night. My best guess was that Ichigo's uncontrolled hollow powers were to blame, but it was hard to say for sure.

"Look, I'm not getting it," said Ichigo as we left the training grounds. "My spirit energy's going to keep drawing hollows and mess with your training. I don't think it's in anyone's best interests for me to come along next time you do this."

"You're going to give up after one bad training session?" demanded Rukia. "Just because it isn't coming easy to you is no reason to quit."

"It'll be a few days before we can do this again anyway," said Uryu. "I have my own training to get back to. Sensai is teaching me some more advanced techniques I need to practice on."

"Could you give me the recipe for your hollow bait?" I asked. "We can practice in the woods out by our mansion while you're working on your training."

"The formula's pretty simple," said Uryu, rattling off ingredients and preparation instructions for the bait from memory. I jotted it down on a notepad from my utility belt.

* * *

"How's the stealth training going?" asked Sloth once we were back home and I'd merged with my homunculus self.

"Ichigo's having trouble with it," I said.

"And everyone else?" asked Sloth.

"We're improving little by little. This exercise of Uryu's has more to it than I'd've thought. He's got us playing hide and seek with hollows. The hiding is helping us get a handle on controlling the output of our spirit energy. Running for cover when they find us helps with our mobility. The fact that it's hollows trying to eat our souls and we can't fight back is putting our souls in enough danger to help build our spirit energy."

"Sounds like the quincies have way better training than the soul reapers," noted Sloth.

"They need it," I said. "Soul reapers have a lot of inherent advantages. They can recruit from a larger pool. Spending most of their time in spirit form and exposed to the risks of day to day life means they have more opportunities to build up their spirit energy. Throw in the much longer lifespans soul reapers have to master their craft and quincy training needs to be way better to make up for it."

"Speaking of lifespan," said Sloth, "have you thought about going through Ran Tao's process?"

"I've thought about it," I said. "The side effects are making me hesitate. Sleeping that heavy when I have enemies feels dangerous. I want to see if she can work out the kinks first."

"She's had a thousand years to work out the kinks," noted Sloth.

"She's also been working alone with severely limited resources," I replied. "Between Mayuri's data, access to the surviving bounts, and a proper staff, I think she can do better."

"Just remember, we got away with all that time turning at Hogwarts because homunculus bodies are immortal. How long did you spend in the Soul Society today?"

"A little over a week," I admitted.

"Is this going to be normal?" asked Sloth.

"I don't think so," I said. "Once I get things set up, they should be pretty self sustaining."

"I just don't want you waiting too long," said Sloth.

"You remember my homunculus self can survive without my soul, right?" I reminded her.

"Yes, but you get really mopey when you lose powers," said Sloth not quite managing to hide a mischievous smirk.

"You're one to talk," I teased back. "After all that effort to get you your alchemy and homunculus powers back."

"They're still not all the way back," said Sloth.

"What do you mean?" I asked, mirth switching to concern.

"It's nothing major," said Sloth. "I just can't do my Ultimate Escape when my soul isn't in anymore. I still need to do that one with alchemy."

"I never really understood that aspect of homunculi," I admitted. "I know Gluttony's power to eat anything was deliberately granted to him by Dante, but with all the homunculi I've made, I don't think any of them have had unique powers."

"I'm not worried about it," said Sloth. "With everything that's happened, it's a miracle I'm as back to normal as I am."

We sat together in silence for a long moment before I asked, "What's bothering you?"

"You went to the Soul Society without me," she said. "I know a lot of what you're doing is like the training with Uryu, something I can't really do more than watch, but not all of it."

"And here I thought I was sparing you the tedium," I said.

"Wherever you are, I want to be there, tedious or not," said Sloth.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Uryu clearly knew details about what was going on with Yhwach during the thousand year blood war arc, and he just as clearly didn't talk things over with his father before going to infiltrate. He must have gotten at least some of the history from Soken before his death.


	31. Chapter 35: The Fall of the Ryodoji

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 35) The Fall of the Ryodoji  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

The next day at breakfast, Sloth and I talked over our plans for the day. It was a weekend, so school was a non-issue. We didn't have any training planned with the others except an afternoon alchemy lesson with Keigo and Tatski.

Our conclusion was that our homunculus selves would stay home that day. Loki hadn't had a really good game of frizbee in a while, and this would be our last chance to squeeze it in before the Ryodoji made their move.

Weekends didn't mean anything in the Soul Society. Sloth accompanied my soul reaper self through the senkaimon in her reigai. After checking in with Momo about the morning's training schedule, I apparated, taking Sloth side along, to the north gate. Once we'd passed the sekiseki stone walls of the Seireitei, I apparated us to the building Mabashi was using as his base of operations.

One by one, Sloth and I escorted each of the bounts into the Seireitei and observed them as they absorbed the power of several Jokai crests into their bodies. Once drained of their power, the generators were easy enough to disassemble. I returned the four bounts to their respective bases of operation once the job was done.

It seemed a shame to let the generators go to waste, so when I returned to the Squad 5 barracks, I canceled morning training, instead assigning them to disassemble the powered down generators and bring the components back to the barracks. To that end, I divided them into teams. One of the former Squad 12 members was put on each team to supervise the actual disassembly. Most of the squad was assigned to the actual labor of disassembling and transporting the pieces. A handful of the best kido users I took aside, taught them undetectable extension charms, and we created a space to store our salvage.

It was better training in teamwork than any exercise I could devise. This was a task bigger than any one person could carry out, and they had to trust and rely on one another to carry it out. It was particularly good for squad unity, since between our organized units, the map Ran Tao gave us, and the head start of knowing the generators were now safely discharged, we beat Squad 12 to the punch, recovering all but the one under the Department of Research and Development itself.

* * *

It was late afternoon getting on toward evening. Squad 5 was all in our training bracers and I was getting my ass kicked in hand to hand combat training. With swordsmanship, I had some training, but unarmed I was a complete novice. With no superhuman abilities, Momo was landing hard hits to the jaw, managing take downs, and generally demonstrating that I had a lot to learn.

I was flat on my back looking up at a kick Momo had stopped an inch from my throat when a distortion appeared int he sky. As I watched, the distortion spread into a circular opening directly above the Seireitei. Looking up through it was like looking down on a city from a great height. Momo lowered her foot and turned to see what I was staring at.

Undoing my bracers, I hopped to my feet. I quickly walked to the bench where I'd left my zanpakto laid across my folded captain's coat. My boots and utility belt were under the bench. I quickly geared up.

"What is that thing?" asked Sloth as she sat down next to me and pulled her shoes on.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out," I said. "Momo, training's canceled for the day. I want the whole squad on allert. This is probably some kind of enemy action."

"Yes, Captain," acknowledged Momo.

"If my suspicions are correct, whatever that is is the work of an exiled Noble Clan called the Ryodoji. Detain any soul reaper acting suspiciously, since they could be ryoka in disguise. Don't release them until you have confirmation of their identity."

I stood back up, my gear in place, just in time for a black hell butterfly to approach me. I held out a finger for it to land on. Once it had relayed its telepathic message, it fluttered off.

"There's a captains' meeting in a half hour," I reported. "I'll make sure to relay information to you as soon as I have it. Until then, get to your posts."

"What do we do?" asked Sloth.

I tossed my soul phone to her and sai, "Call the other us and see if a similar portal opened up on their end. Either way, let them know what's going on. I'm going to pop outside the gate then go up for a closer look."

"We have no idea what that is," Sloth reminded me.

"That's why I need a closer look. I'll be careful. I promise." I gave Sloth a quick kiss then apparated to the west gate.

Once outside the sekiseki stone wall protecting the Seireitei, I leapt up, formed a midair foothold at the apex of my jump, then leapt higher until I was close to the anomaly but still far enough that I'd have some warning if something came out. I conjured a small stone cube and tossed it up at the distortion. The cube bounced off something solid before falling down and being obliterated by the spherical membrane surrounding the Seireitei. I tried tossing a few simple spells at the boundary, and confirmed it was impermeable to spells as well as spirit particles.

Not having much more time to investigate, I landed, headed back in through the west gate, and apparated back to where I'd left Sloth at the Squad 5 training grounds.

"If it's a portal, it's closed for the moment," I told her.

"I can't get through to anyone in the world of the living," said Sloth. "I tried us, Urahara, Rukia. None of my calls even rang. Something's really wrong."

"Hopefully, one of the other captains will have useful information," I said. "If not, we'll find out for ourselves."

"I'll stay close by when you have your meeting so we can act as soon as possible," said Sloth.

"Give me your hand and we'll apppartate to the Squad 1 barracks."

* * *

No one had explained the etiquette of the captains' meetings, but it wasn't hard to figure out the basics from watching the others. As captain commander, Yamamoto stood at one end of the high ceilinged meeting room. The rest of us arranged ourselves into two lines forming a path between Yamamoto and the door.

Over the past few weeks, I had met each of the men and women who were now my peers. Around half of them had tried to capture or kill me at one point or another. The only one I was still holding a grudge against was Mayuri, who'd committed his crimes with no prompting or manipulation from Aizen. Yamamoto'd made it clear we weren't to kill each other, but even if he hadn't, there was no point killing Mayuri again without a way to make him stay dead.

Yamamoto called the meeting to order by striking his heavy wooden cane on the floor and said, "Captain Kurotsuchi, report on the phenomenon in the sky over the Seireitei."

The captain in black and white makeup began his explanation in his usual clinical tone. "A short time ago, monitoring stations for the precipice world detected the formation of a new dimensional space between the world of the living and the Soul Society. As it expanded to occupy the space between the two worlds, communications with our forces stationed in the world of the living were disrupted."

"But what exactly are we seeing?" asked Byakuya. "Is that a portal to this new dimension?"

"As this new dimension presses up against the Soul Society and the world of the living, it's acting like a lens," explained Mayuri. "The city overhead is a city from the world of the living."

"Beyond the communication difficulties, is the phenomenon dangerous?" asked Captain Ukitake.

"Members of the stealth force have attempted to infiltrate the dimension to determine that," said Soi Fon. "They were unable to find an entrance in either the Soul Society or the precipice world. The team was swallowed up by the restrictive current during the attempt."

"Could this be some sort of enemy action?" asked Hitsugaya.

"I'm almost certain of it," I said. When eyes turned to me, I explained, "I have training in a number of kido spells not broadly known to members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Through a combination of divination and conventional research, I became aware of what I at first believed to be a threat aimed at me personally. I now believe the threat to be more broadly targeted. My best information suggests those behind this are members of a former noble clan called the Ryodoji."

"The Ryodoji were banished to the precipice world a thousand years ago," said Yamamoto.

"Which is exactly where the trouble's starting now," said Kyoraku.

"So, what're they trying to do?" asked Captain Zaraki.

"I don't know," I said. "The methods I used can tell me very precisely who is involved in a threat, but they're a lot less specific about the nature of that threat."

"Assuming this is an attack, what can we do about it?" asked Captain Komumura.

"The kido cannon was designed for destroying dimensional spaces like this, but given this new space's proximity to both the Soul Society and the human world, the damage to both worlds would be significant." said Mayuri.

"Provoking us into such an act may be what the enemy wants," noted Captain Unohana. "It would be wise to keep that option in reserve until the nature of the threat becomes clearer."

"Agreed," said Yamamoto. "More information is required before we can act. As efforts to analyze this phenomenon from the Soul Society and from the dangai have failed, a team will need to go to the world of the living to investigate there. Furthermore, due to the potential seriousness and unknown nature of the threat, I want a captain on the ground making the assessment."

"My time would be better spent analyzing the data from our monitoring stations," said Mayuri.

"Count me out," said Kenpachi. "It doesn't sound like there'll be anyone to fight."

"I'll go," I said. "My squad's already been assigned to defensive positions, and I'm better suited to operating in the world of the living than the Soul Society anyway."

As no one objected, I was assigned to the mission. I quickly walked out the door when we were dismissed to find Sloth leaning against the railing waiting for me. Rather than explain things more than once, I cast Bakudo 77: Tenteikura to speak to Sloth and all the members of my squad at once.

"In the event the kido cannon is fired, do what you can to protect the civilians effected by the damage," I concluded, ending the spell.

"Why does the Soul Society even have a weapon that destroys other dimensional spaces?" asked Sloth as she took my hand.

I apparated us to the main senkaimon and explained, "The Soul Society as it exists now is sort of an artificial construct. That's why it doesn't match with the other afterlives we've heard about in other worlds. I don't know all the details of how it was constructed. There are apparently some secrets the royal family keeps. I do know that there was a time when the royal family didn't have a monopoly on the method, and various proto-Soul Societies went to war with each other. The kido cannon is a relic of those wars."

"Is that what the Ryodoji are doing now? Building a competing Soul Society?" asked Sloth.

"We can't discount the possibility," I said. "Even if the royal family's been successful at keeping their secret, any knowledge that's been discovered once can be rediscovered."

* * *

There was no corresponding visual distortion in the sky of the world of the living. Our homunculus selves were in the warehouse continuing Tatski and Keigo's alchemy training. After merging our selves, Sloth and I warned the pair that a dangerous situation was brewing and that we'd have to cut the day's lesson short while we dealt with it. Neither had noticed anything odd that might help with the investigation.

"What's our next move, Captain?" asked Sloth, amused at being on my first official mission despite the circumstances.

Homunculus me had brought Loki to the alchemy lesson. I put a hand on his head and stroked his ears, saying, "The fideleous charm hides the mansion. It won't stop debris from a blown up dimension from smashing it. I want to keep Loki close until this situation's resolved."

Sloth nodded. "Even if we're attacked, he'll be safer with us than he would be back home if they fire the kido cannon."

"Other than that, I think we should grab Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, Uryu, and Orhime, bring them to Urahara's shop, and compare notes. Hopefully, one of them will have noticed something strange."

"It's as good a place to start as any," said Sloth. "Can you find them?"

I closed my eyes and concentrated. "Ichigo's easy. I could track his spirit energy drunk. There are Chad and Orihime. Uryu's a bit farther off. No sign of Rukia."

"Time's a factor," said Sloth. "You should just grab everyone and apparate them to Kiske's."

I nodded. "I'll start with you and Loki."

Ichigo's easy to detect spiritual pressure meant he'd be the easiest to find, but he'd also run the risk of drowning out my spiritual senses if I got him first. To avoid that problem, I grabbed Uryu first, picked up Chad and Orihme next, and saved Ichigo for last.

I found Ichigo in a crowded mall. He was looking for someone, calling out the name Senna.

"Who's Senna?" I asked walking up behind him.

"Oh, hey, Greed," said Ichigo. "Senna's a soul reaper Rukia and I ran into today. I had some questions for her, but I can't find her."

"She wouldn't be one of the people in this picture would she?" I asked, showing him the photo of the Ryodoji I'd taken from my foeglass.

Ichigo looked at it and said, "No. She's not in there. She's got orange eyes and a spikey black pony tail tied up with a yellow ribbon."

"Where did you get this?" asked Kon, who I'd just noticed Ichigo was carrying around in his plush lion body. "This looks like one of the guys who was in the middle of those freaky white ghosts."

"The others are waiting at Urahara's shop," I said. "We need to compare notes."

"Hold on a sec," requested Ichigo. Then he shouted into the crowd for Senna to wait here and that he'd be right back. We get behind a pillar and I apparated us back to Urahra's shop.

* * *

Once we were seated around the table in the back room of Urahara's shop, I explained what I'd learned in the captains' meeting. Ichigo then went over the details of his encounter, with occasional commentary from Kon.

Shortly after dispatching a hollow, Rukia had gotten an alert on her soul phone. It led Ichigo and Rukia to a crowd of unusual looking spirits. They were dressed in white robes, had no visible chains of fate, and their heads were covered in pointed pink hoods that turned red when they were agitated. I recognized the description from records I'd assimilated.

"The spirits you encountered are called blanks," I explained. "They're definitely related to this new spiritual dimension. Blanks are intrinsically tied to the formation of a place called the Valley of Screams."

From there, Kiske and Tessai took over the explanations, complete with illustrations. Ordinarily, the spiritual gravity of the world of the living and the Soul Society draw migrating souls passing through the dangai to them, facilitating the cycle of reincarnation. When souls get lost, they tend to clump together, and the resulting spiritual gravity pulls more nearby lost souls to it. Such souls become separated from their memories, becoming blanks. The memories congeal together into an object called a Shinenju, or Memory Rosary, which is expelled into the world of the living. The Valley of Screams is the general term for a dimensional space formed in this way, composed entirely of blanks.

The Shinenju eventually returns to the Valley of Screams, and the dimension collapses, releasing the souls baking it up to resume the cycle of reincarnation. If that happened now, the collapse of the Valley of Screams would pull the world of the living and the Soul Society into a collision, destroying both worlds. A Valley of Screams wouldn't have formed naturally so close to either world, though a dedicated group operating in the dangai could hold up migrating souls in sufficient numbers to trigger the formation.

The Cleaner was supposed to prevent enemies from being able to operate in one spot in the dangai long enough to manage something like this, but the Ryodoji would've had to evade the Cleaner for a thousand years just to survive this long. Kon had seen one of the Ryodoji with the blanks. Best guess was they were using the blanks as bloodhounds to find the Shinenju. Blanks were inherently drawn to the Shinenju, which was what caused the dimensional collapse when it entered the Valley of Screams, so they'd be ideally suited to the purpose.

There were gaps in the records about this phenomenon, most significantly, what form the Shinenju takes. Part of the reason for those gaps is that events relating to the Shinenju and the Valley of Screams faded form the memories of observers once it collapsed, leaving only a short window in which to record observations. As a result, I was taking extensive notes.

Rukia had headed back to the Soul Society when she lost communication, but she'd learned that the sensors in the soul phones designed to detect hollows also detect blanks. I paid Kiske for enough soul phones to equip our search party. I gave Ichigo an extra one to give to Senna when he found her so she could help us search. We had to find the Shinenju before the Ryodoji did, or it would be literally the end of the world, or at least a disaster of epic proportions with the kido cannon backup plan.

"I should report in," I said. "Tell the others what I've learned."

"Homunculus us can keep up the search," said Sloth.

"I hate to do this," I said, separating my soul reaper and homunculus selves. Soul reaper me finished the thought, "but you have to stay behind."

"Why?" demanded Sloth.

"The veritasyrum isn't done yet," I said. "We handed out all our secrecy sensors to the gate guards. If we catch one of the Ryodoji, we'll need a legilimens on hand, and Ichigo doesn't have the training to capitalize on his innate talents. It's got to be you."

"Fine," said Sloth. "Just hurry back and bring reinforcements."

Soul reaper me left for the Soul Society. Homunculus me popped in the Mad Eye and we got to searching Karakura town.

* * *

Credit where it was due, the on-board sensors on the soul phones had a very good range. As such, when the blanks made an appearance, the entire search party detected it at once and we all rushed there.

Ichigo was already there when we arrived, along with a soul reaper who matched the description he'd given of Senna, who'd apparently traded in her yellow hair ribbon for a red one. There were signs of a battle recently fought there, including a severed soul reaper arm.

"What happened here?" asked Uryu.

"Don't bother answering," said Sloth. "If you just think about what happened, I can give everyone an instant replay."

"Right," Ichigo mouthed. I presume he said it aloud, but he was in his soul reaper form and inaudible to me without my soul.

Sloth reached into Ichigo's mind and replayed his memories for those of us who weren't there. Senna had come to visit her grave and Ichigo had followed, trying to enlist her help finding the blanks, Ryodoji, and the Shinenju. The Ryodoji had appeared out of nowhere with a group of blanks and tried to take Senna to their leader, who they called Ganryu. Ichigo had cut off the arm of the one who'd grabbed Senna, and the Ryodoji had retreated, escaping via the same peculiar teleportation method they'd arrived with.

"Senna," said Sloth. "I can see your memories too. They're jumbled and contradictory, because they come from more than one person. The Ryodoji tried to take you because you are the Shinenju."

I couldn't hear Senna's words, but the anguish on her face was obvious as she processed the fact that she wasn't what she'd thought she was.

"I've been there," said Sloth kindly. "When I was younger, I thought I was a human girl named Nina. The truth was, I was an artificial construct with no soul of my own called a homunculus. I'd been given Nina's memories, or something like them, but I wasn't her. It's a shock finding out, but being human or a soul reaper I guess, isn't a prerequisite for being a person."

"That's right," said Orihime in response to something Ichigo said. "We have a place where they won't be able to find you."

"You'll be able to rest without worrying about them coming after you," said Chad.

"In the meantime, this will let us turn the tables on them," I said, picking up the severed arm.

"That's right, Loki can track by scent," said Uyru looking down at my dog.

"Which would mean something if he could perceive spirits," I mused. "Fortunately, Mayuri's data contained a pretty simple chemical process for tracking a target requiring a lot less of the target than this. Once we get back to the mansion, I can head down to the lab and get started."

* * *

Senna was exhausted both physically and emotionally. As soon as she laid down in her room, she was unconscious. She and Ichigo had both gotten into physical bodies as we made our way to the mansion. Ichigo picked up his body where he'd left it with Kon. Senna was using an out of date disposable gigai designed to form around her when she activated a small device and to disintegrate entirely when she exited. Modern gigai designs were durable enough to handle an unlimited number of exits and entrances, ensuring a soul reaper in the field wouldn't find themselves bodiless if they got in and out too often.

I ordered the automatons to inform us if Senna woke up or if she tried to leave. They weren't ordered to try and stop her. Given their limitations, they couldn't stop her even if I'd wanted them to. She wasn't a prisoner, but she was emotionally distressed and I wanted the chance to try and talk her out of leaving and making herself vulnerable to an abduction.

While Senna slept, I took the others down to my lab. Cauldrons were boiling at workstations heated by enchanted flames as the veritasyrum, polyjuice, and felix felicis stewed. A computer terminal was set up on a desk where Mayuri's data could be accessed. I set the severed arm down at a currently unused workstation.

"The process should give us a precise vector and distance," I said as I started mixing the required chemicals.

"How much time do we have to find them?" asked Chad.

"Without Senna, their plan can't move forward," I said. "The Valley of Screams is no threat to either world without a way to collapse it."

"So, it's down to how long Senna'll be okay being cooped up here," said Sloth.

"Then we'd better find them before she wakes up," said Ichigo. "It was enough work getting her to stay still for the length of a conversation."

"He's not here," I said. "Wherever he teleported to, it isn't in the world of the living."

"Could they be hiding in a space like the one Noba uses?" asked Orihime.

"That did look a little like Noba's trick," acknowledged Ichigo.

"Uryu," said Sloth, "we know these people sued to be quincy allies. Could it be some sort of rare quincy technique?"

"I'd have to check with my grandfather to be sure," said Uryu. "I don't recognize it, but there are a lot of techniques I haven't learned yet."

"I'll be able to detect him the moment he comes back into this world," I said, "but if they can just teleport away, this could get more frustrating than the bounts."

"When you get back from the Soul Society, remember to try an antidisapparition jinx if Uryu can't come up with anything more specific," said Sloth. "It's a long shot, but it's better than nothing."

* * *

The first thing I'd done on returning to the Soul Society was verify with Momo that things had been relatively quiet on this end. Once I'd confirmed that, I head up to Yamamoto's office to make my report. His lieutenant led me in right away.

"Sir," I began, "I've identified the dimensional space as the Valley of Screams. I've also been able to verify the involvement of the Ryodji. They are using blanks to search for the Shinenju. I believe they intend to collapse the Valley of Screams and trigger a collision between the world of living and the Soul Society. I have the substitute soul reaper Ichigo Kurosaki searching for the Shinenju in order to try and find it before they do."

"Rukia Kuchki of Squad 13 has already reported the presence of blanks," said Yamamoto. "Central 46 has issued a level 1 order that the Shinenju be found and taken into custody."

I nodded. "Is there any new information I should know before I prep my squad to deploy to the world of the living?"

"A search party on that scale may be unnecessary," said Yamamoto. "Squad 13 is pursuing a lead on the Shinenju as we speak. You should speak with Captain Ukitake."

"Thank you, sir," I said. "Bowing, I stepped out of the office then apparated to the Squad 13 barracks.

I was greeted by Kaien Shiba. He was wearing his lieutenant's badge on his arm. He gave me a warm welcome and congratulated me on my still recent promotion to captain of Squad 5. Once I explained why I was there, he directed me to the records room of the soul reaper academy.

In the records room, I found Rukia going over the records alongside her white haired captain.

"Is there anything I can help with?" I asked by way of greeting.

"Greed, were you able to learn anything more in your investigation?" asked Captain Ukitake.

He frowned as I relayed the information I'd given Yamamoto. "The Head Captain said you had a lead about the Shinenju."

Rukia spoke, saying, "Shortly after the blanks showed up, a soul reaper calling herself Senna attacked them. She couldn't or wouldn't tell us what squad she was with or how long she'd been in the world of the living. I've checked with the lieutenants of all thirteen sq1uads and there's no Senna in any of them."

"Could she be one of the Ryodoji?" I asked.

Rukia shook her head. "She wasn't wearing their armor, and she was able to release a zanpakto named Mirojumaru which was lost along with its wielder in the restrictive current a hundred years ago."

"You think she's the Shinenju, and the memories of the soul reaper who wielded that zanpakto are a part of her, allowing her to do what ought to otherwise be impossible, wield a zanpakto that's already been bonded with another soul reaper," I concluded.

Rukia nodded. "It's essentially the same way the arancar that consumed Kaien is able to wield his zanpakto."

"Once we crush Aizen and his forces, we'll need to make retrieving Kaien's zanpakto a priority," I said.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate having it back," said Ukitake. "For the moment, Rukia and I are trying to verify our theory. Given Central 46's order, it would be unfortunate if we took the wrong person into custody."

"What's going to happen to her once she's in custody?" I asked.

"She will be held until the Ryodoji are eliminated," said Ukitake. "After that, a team of soul reapers will escort her into the dangai precipice world where her presence will be used to draw the Valley of Screams safely out of its current location. After that, she will be placed inside the Valley of Screams and the dimension will be allowed to collapse normally."

"That'll kill her," I noted. "Couldn't we move the Valley of Screams to a safe distance, then destroy it with the kido cannon?"

"Allowing the Shinenju to merge with the Valley of Screams restores the memories to the lost souls that make it up," said Ukitake. "It's the natural end of the Shinenju's existence."

"A lot of natural things are pretty horrible," I said. "Souls that linger in the world of the living naturally become hollows. Hollows naturally devour souls, usually while they're still consious."

"There's no way of knowing if destroying the Valley of Screams would allow the Shinenju to continue existing as an independent being," said Ukitake. "More likely, its destruction will destroy her as well. Of course, this discussion is moot if the Ryodoji succeed in using her to destroy both worlds."

"Right," I said. "I have a quick way of confirming her nature one way or another if I can get my hands on one of the blanks. I'll head back to the world of the living."

"Once you find the Shinenju, Senna or not, don't try to move her through the dangai alone," said Ukitake. "We know the Ryodoji are used to operating there. I'll assemble a team to help escort her to the Soul Society."

"I understand," I said.

* * *

I decided against bringing my squad along when I returned to the world of the living. I might be disobeying an order from Central 46, and there was no reason to risk them objecting, or worse, not objecting and going down with me. I could leave this world any time I liked. My squad members couldn't. If I really needed extra manpower, I could always use the automatons.

My first step was to link up with my other self. A quick phone call to Sloth verified they were both at the mansion. Apparating in, I merged with my homunculus self.

"How sure are you she's the Shinenju?" I asked.

"Pretty sure," said Sloth. "The jumble of contradictory memories in her head is about as clear a sign as we're going to get, especially combined with the Ryodoji trying to grab her."

"We've got a problem," I said. "We need to talk to the others. Senna too. She ought to know what the Soul Society has planned for her."

"Bad?" verified Sloth.

"Very," I replied.

"Okay, the soul reapers can't get in here any more than the Ryodoji can," said Sloth. "Senna was overwhelmed and exhausted. We should let her sleep and discuss it, and our options in the morning."

I nodded. "That's probably a good idea. I'll need time to think."

* * *

The next morning, Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, Uryu, Sloth, Senna, and I sat around the dining room table. Breakfast was laid out. Not wanting to ruin everyone's appetite, I waited until the meal was over to discuss the Soul Society's plans.

"I might be able to talk them out of it, but I wouldn't bet your life on it," I concluded.

"Whether they agree or not, we're not going to let anyone hurt you, Senna," said Ichigo.

"Can we copy her memories into a new body like you did for me?" asked Sloth.

"Wouldn't work," I said, shaking my head. "Once the Valley of Screams dissipates, all related memories fade away. That would include the copy in her new body."

"Whatever we're going to do about the Soul Society's order," said Uryu, "it would be best if we didn't still have the Ryodoji to deal with."

"I want to help," said Senna. "We know they're looking for me. We could set a trap."

"Wouldn't any trap we set be as likely to lure in the Soul Society as the Ryodoji?" asked Chad.

"Not if we set the trap in the shadow realm," said Uryu.

"Shadow realm?" I asked.

"The method the Ryodoji used to escapew as a quincy technique," said Uryu. "My grandfather recognized it. What they're doing isn't precisely teleportation. They're shifting in and out of a separate dimensional space."

"Like the Valley of Screams," guessed Orihime.

"Not precisely," said Uryu. "Every world, the world of the living, the Soul Society, the precipice world, Hueco Mundo, probably even the Valley of Screams has its own shadow realm. It exists parallel to the main world, but what's inside it is completely undetectable and vice versa. Distance is the same in either world, so it isn't much use as a shortcut. As an ambush or escape route, it'd be a lot more useful to quincies if it weren't a spiritual dimension that doesn't permit matter inside."

"And quincies fight in living bodies," said Chad. "Does that mean you, me, and Orihime can't go?"

Uryu nodded. "What we'll need ot do is guard the physical world reflection of the ambush site in case they try to get away."

"Why's it called the shadow realm?" asked Senna.

"Because the technique to open it involves turning an ordinary shadow into a portal," said Uryu.

"The quincies developed this technique specifically for their war with the soul reapers, didn't they?" I asked. "It wouldn't have been much use otherwise."

"It doesn't matter why it was invented," said Ichigo. "The important thing is Uryu can open us a portal so we can take these guys down without exposing Senna to the Soul Society."

"Actually, I can't," said Uryu, embarrassed. "My grandfather knows the technique, and he'll be the one to open the portal. He's already agreed to help us."

"So, where is he?" asked Ichigo. "If Senna goes out to meet him, we might as well count on the Soul Society or those guys from earlier jumping us on the way."

"I guess that's my cue," I said, taking out a small box and handing out devices the size of cell phones to everyone. "I'm happy to teach apparition to anyone who wants to learn, but since not all of us have the spirit energy required, and we haven't managed to go a whole week without a crisis since rescuing Rukia to do any kind of serious training in, I made these. Each button is a reusable portkey. There's one leading to the mansion just outside the wards, one to Urahara's shop, and one to each of your houses. I also added the school and quincy training area."

"Our own personal teleporters! This is so cool!" exclaimed Orihime. "Thank you so much!"

* * *

We arrived in the forest outside of town in a swirl of motion and color. Senna fell to her knees, disoriented by the trip. Soekn Ishida was waiting for us.

"Well, well. That's an impressive entrance," said the elderly quincy master. "I take it this is the girl you've taken under your protection, Uryu."

"Senna, this is my grandfather, Soken Ishida," introduced Uryu.

"Hi," said Senna.

"We're in kind of a hurry," said Ichigo apologetically.

"Of course," said Soken. "I assume Uryu's told you what's involved."

"He explained the basics," said Sloth.

The old man nodded and touched the ground in the shade of a tree and said, "Remember, I cannot accompany you into the shadow realm. I will reopen the portal in this exact spot in one hour to let you return. Make sure to mark your entrance on the other side or you may never find your way back out again."

Soken slashed the air with his arm, and the shadow transformed into a black, cross shaped hole in midair. Ichigo, Senna, Sloth, and I exited our bodies and stepped through. In the material world, I looked over at Soken and said, "Thank you for helping us."

"This is partly our fault," said Soken. "I must ask that you not speak of this to the other soul reapers."

"I've already promised Uryu I'd keep anything I learned about quincy techniques to myself," I said.

"We all did," affirmed Chad.

"Thank you all for that," said the old master.

"On the subject of secret quincy knowledge the Soul Society never found out," I said, taking out my watch, "do you happen to know how to make this material?"

"Where did you get that?" asked Soken curiously.

"It's from another universe, fashioned by a race of people called goblins who weren't keen on sharing their metalworking secrets," I said. "The characteristics of some later period quincy artifacts match goblin silver perfectly."

"It isn't a lost art in this world quite yet," acknowledged Soken.

"What's so special about it?" asked Chad.

"For starters, it's indestructible," I said. "It also repels dirt in a way that makes it self cleaning. There's also a nifty feature it has of absorbing and integrating anything that would strengthen it. For example, a sword made of it that was exposed to poison would forever after be capable of poisoning those it cuts."

"We call it soul forged silver," said Soken. "I presume you're interested in learning how it's made."

"I'm interested in learning everything I can," I said. "I know I'm not a quincy so there are some things I'm just not capable of, but even those, I want to learn the theory."

"I'm not ungrateful for all that you've done for me and my family," said Soken after a moment's thought. "Even so, I have to protect my clan's secrets from our enemies. Uryu tells me you have a device that can detect falsehoods. Given time to test it, I may be willing to accept an oath sworn under it."

"I don't have any more on me, but I can make a new one after the situation with Senna's been resolved," I said, excitement seeping into my voice.

"Now you just have to avoid Yamamoto killing you for disobeying an order from Central 46," said Sloth, unable to completely avoid being infected by my sudden good mood.

* * *

The shadow realm was a desolate place. The ground was grey and featureless. It conformed to the rough topography of the living world, but it was empty of the trees, water, or any other material object other than the four of us who'd entered. The sky was an equally desolate grey void. There was no sun in this world. There were shadows.

Every shadow cast in the world of the living was visible from this place, despite there being no objects to cast them, and in many cases, no surface on which they were cast. The effect was a peculiar set of patterns in midair that let me make out the general outline of people, trees, and other features.

"This feels so much like a labyrinth," said Sloth, transforming into her magical girl form and clipping the protective diamond shell over the irreplaceable Soul Gem on her tiara.

"I was about to say the same thing," I said.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, but it's definitely creepy," said Senna.

"I've been in one," said Ichigo. "Creepy and weird are probably the two best words to describe it."

"It's a low reshi environment," I reported. "We won't be able to flash step."

"How do you know?" asked Ichigo.

"I tried," I said.

"None of my powers rely on external reshi," said Sloth. "I'll be able to fight at full strength."

"The limiters on both of our badges are turned off, but I'm still down to 20% power from the seal automatically applied by the senkaimon," I said. "That and no flash step's going to make this harder."

"No flash step applies to them too," reminded Ichigo.

Senna visibly shuddered and said, "They're coming."

The low reshi environment made sensing spirit energy considerably easier. There were six soul reapers and a dozen blanks approaching our position. At their current rate of approaching they'd be here in minutes. I took three potions from my utility belt and handed one to Ichigo and one to Sloth.

"Sorry I don't have one for you, Senna," I said. "These are enhancement potions I've prepared that need to be carefully tailored to their drinker's abilities, and I haven't really seen you in action yet."

"You really think I need this?" asked Ichigo, looking at the bottle dubiously.

"We're outnumbered with no way for backup to reach us," I said, putting my empty potion bottle away. I drew my zanpakto and added, "This is no time to take chances. Bind, Tsumi no Rensa!"

"Bring them to the twilight, Mirahumaru!" called out Senna, releasing her zanpakto into the form of a gold staff with a spearhead on one end and a large ring decorated by smaller loose rings on the other end.

Downing his potion, Ichigo took his zanpakto off his back, gripped the hilt in both hands and released a vortex of blue spirit energy around himself. "Bankai!" The swirling blue energy surrounded him, obscuring him from view and turned black. I could feel his spirit energy compress in on him as the black energy vanished revealing Ichigo in a tight black long coat wielding a black blade that could be mistaken for a sealed zankapto. "Tensa Zangetsu."

Ironically, the compression of his power meant Ichigo's spirit energy was actually less conspicuous in bankai. The Ryodoji had no way of knowing what they were walking into. They could sense that they had us outnumbered just as well as we could.

The blanks were crowded together and moved in a zombie-like daze as they walked toward Senna. To one side were the Ryodoji. Marching at the front was a grey haired man with a scar on his left eyebrow wearing a cloak. Behind him were a woman with a crossbow, a slender man with a sword that looked larger and more impractical than Ichigo's shikai, a broad shouldered man wielding a pair of circular blades with central handles in their centers, a hunched over man wearing what looked like a backpack full of rockets, and a fat figure with a cloth mask draped over its face wearing a pair of clubs as large as it was.

The man in front, who I took to be Ganryu, their leader, pointed and the blanks launched themselves at us like missiles. Senna summoned a tornado with her zanpakto that interposed itself between us and the blanks. The blanks exploded on impacting Senna's tornado. Ichigo, Sloth, and I rushed around the dust cloud kicked up by the explosion.

The one with the rocket pack fired on us, but Sloth summoned a dozen yo-yos and intercepted the rockets before they could impact us. Ichigo rushed Ganryu and pressed him hard in a sword fight. I twirled Tsumi no Rensa in front of me to block a crossbow bolt, then turned my spinning chain so I could fire a link as a sling bullet back at the woman who'd fired on me. The potion enhancing my strength and reflexes meant the chain link struck her square in the forehead and punched clean through her skull.

My white captain's coat and my managing the first kil made me a target. The one with the two clubs came at me from above and the one with the oversized sword swung low for my legs. I raised one arm to block the dual clubs and I let the sword aimed low hit. Shield spells I'd laid on my coat did their job stopping both attacks. With a brief opening, I wrapped the sword attacking me low with Tsumi no Rensa, removing links and crushing the oversized blade.

To my surprise, the enemy swordsman drew a thinner blade from inside his larger one like it was a shieth and cut off the fingers of my righthand, forcing me to drop Tsumi no Rensa. I had to fall back from a renewed assault by my opponents who now knew not to target anywhere on me covered by my captain's coat.

Ichigo and Sloth were busy with their opponents, leaving Senna to fight the man wielding the circular blades. She was doing quite well. He used them as thrown weapons, which Senna's wind based zanpakto could easily turn aside.

Even with my potions, my sword wielding opponent was faster and stronger than me, and focusing too hard on him would leave me vulnerable to a crushing club to my skull from his partner. I looked into his mind with legilimency, hoping to read his attacks before he could make them and give me an extra split second's time to dodge. It worked. Unfortunately, his next attack wasn't the only thing I saw.

He was terrified of me, keeping up the pressure of his attacks with everything he had because he was certain if he let up for an instant, he'd be dead. I felt his hatred of the Soul Society and why he'd felt destroying both worlds was the right thing to do. The emotional impact of years wandering the dank, inhospitable precipice world after the exile, of losing friends to the restrictive current, of fleeing to the precipice world's shadow realm just as the cleaner bore down on him again and again. Executing them outright would have been more merciful than that banishment, but mercy wasn't a trait they'd ever known from Yamamoto or the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.

Then I proved them right. Timing it just right, I apparated out of melee range as he was rushing in. The heavy twin clubs meant for me came down on the swordsman, snapping his arm and crushing his skull. I had to fight back tears when he died. Killing the hell bound Mayuri while seeing the twisted thoughts running through his mind was one thing. Killing a man who was afraid and certain of his cause while gazing into his core was something else entirely. I knew it was my imagination, but Tsumi no Rensa felt noticeably heavier when I picked the chain back up with my uninjured left hand.

Reattaching my severed fingers would be a delicate task unsuited to battlefield conditions. Instead, I wrapped Tsumi no Rensa around my forearm and took a syringe filled with green liquid out of my utility belt. Jamming the needle into my right palm, I injected a small amount of the regenerative drug. It felt like a localized, high speed version of forcing myself to resume human form after first becoming a homunculus, but by the time I had the presence of mind to call out from the pain, my fingers were fully regenerated and the pain had passed.

Sloth's opponent went down when a few of his missiles collided with Sloth's yo-yos just as they were leaving the tube. The secondary explosions in his pack ensured he'd never be getting up again. Sloth turned to help Senna while I dealt with my remaining opponent.

"You're the ones outnumbered now," I said to my club wielding opponent. "Surrender."

He wasn't willing to surrender, but he also wasn't stupid enough to try and fight me on his own. He stepped into a nearby shadow and vanished into the material world. I smirked knowing what we had waiting for him. I moved to assist Ichigo.

Ganryu was already on the ropes. He used every dirty trick he could to tip the battle in his favor, throwing knives, hidden secondary weapons, and a lot of taunting, but Ichigo's raw speed and power, enhanced by my potion meant every trick Ganryu threw up was just delaying the inevitable.

He was delaying it though, and I aimed to put a stop to that. As Sloth shattered the flying blades allowing Senna to take out their opponent by enveloping him in a lightning infused tornado, I cast a full body bind hex on Ganryu. Ganryu's arms involuntarily snapped to his sides and his legs locked as my spell took effect. He didn't have a chance to try and counter the paralysis as Ichigo fired a lethal black energy blast from his sword, calling out, "Getsuga Tensho!"

It was over. I'd seen enough in my earlier opponent's mind to know this handful was all that was left of the Ryodoji. The world was safe. Now all that was left was to determine if Senna was.

* * *

Author's comments:  
The mechanics of the quincy shadow realm were never explained particularly well in the manga, so I've created something that I think fits the information we do have while being sufficiently weird to be worth bothering with. The idea is that the world described above is the blank canvas that the quincies than used reshi siphoned from the Seireitei to build their city in.


	32. Chapter 36: Building a Better World

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 36) Building a Better World  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Back in the material world, I merged with my homunculus self and acquired the memories of what had happened to the club wielding Ryodoji who had fled. He'd been riddled with dozens of quincy arrows from Uryu and Ryoken the instant he'd emerged from the shadows. The rest of us hadn't had anything to do.

Ichigo, Chjad, Orihime, Uryu, Sloth, Senna, and I used our portkeys to return to the mansion. Captains Ukitake, Soi Fon, and Hitsugaya were there accompanied by Rukia, Renji, and several members of the stealth force.

"The extra muscle won't be needed," I said. "The Ryodoji have been eliminated."

"Are you certain?" asked Ukitake.

I nodded. "The six we fought were the last survivors of the exiled clan."

Sighing with relief, Ukitake said, "Then all that remains is the Shinenju Senna."

The others tensed and shifted subtly to protect Senna. That motion prompted Soi Fon and the members of the stealth force to grip the hilts of their zanpaktos, though none of them drew them yet.

"Do you intend to interfere?" demanded Soi Fon.

"Maybe," I said casually. "That depends on what exactly Central 46 intends to do with her Did they consider my proposal?"

"Questioning an order from Central 46 is not permitted," said Soi Fon.

"I'm not letting you take "Senna," said Ichigo firmly.

"They can't take Senna no matter what we do," I said.

"What do you mean?" asked Hitsugaya suspiciously.

"In order to keep her safe from the Ryodoji, I gave her a device that would let her teleport to safety to avoid capture. If the plan still involves killing her, I expect she'll be inclined to use it." I made no effort to hide my smirk as Senna used one of the portkeys and vanished.

"Where did she go?" demanded Soi Fon angrily.

"I honestly have no idea," I said. "I wouldn't advise trying to hunt her down. Even if you did find her, nothing's stopping her from teleporting away again."

"Traitor!" hissed Soi Fon. "You're coming back to the Soul Society to answer for this."

I shrugged. "If that's how you want to do it. I can explain to Central 46 how I ended the Ryodoji threat and had the Shinenju cooperating until the team sent to pick her up spooked her. Should I leave my body here, or did you want to head over to a senkaimon with a spirit particle conversion gate?"

"Why would you do this?" asked Captain Ukitake. "Even if the Ryodoji are gone, the Shinenju could still be used to destroy both worlds. Even if you believe her to be a person, how could you put her life on a scale balanced against that?"

Squeezing Sloth's hand, I said, "In the last world I visited, one of the things I learned about myself was that in a choice between one innocent life and an abstract greater good, I tend to choose the former. It doesn't have to be a choice between killing Senna and a lingering threat, though."

"No. Thanks to you now our options are a lingering threat or just accepting the damage firing the kido cannon will doto both worlds," snapped Renji. "In case you've forgotten, Hueco Mundo, where Aizen ran off to, isn't one of the worlds endangered by this."

"Senna isn't evil," declared Orihime. "She wouldn't want to destroy the world. She volunteered to help us fight. She's the reason we were able to win."

"The way I see it," said Sloth, "everyone in both worlds owes her big for that. Greed has a way for Senna to live without the Valley of Screams remaining a threat. You should listen to him, if only because you'll never find Senna without his help."

"We should hear out this plan," said Hitsugaya. "Our priority has to be dealing with the Valley of Screams. Afterward, we can still take Greed back to stand trial."

Nodding my head to Hitsugaya in thanks, I said, "I've given it some more thought, and I think the best option is to send the Valley of Screams away. We start the same as the original plan, but instead of collapsing it or blowing it up, we just keep it moving away."

"Having identified her as the Shinenju, an enemy may try to sue her to draw it back," said Ukitake, "unless you're proposing we banish her to the farthest reaches of the precipice world with the Valley of Screams. If so, I'd hardly call that the more merciful option."

"What I propose is bringing Senna and the Valley of Screams to the world Sloth and I originally came from."

"Greed," said Sloth, "I know I was backing your plan here, but there's no way we can bring the Valley of Screams through the Gate."

"We don't have to," I said. "Once the Valley of Screams is out of range of the gravities of the world of the living and the Soul Society, the strongest force acting on it will be its attraction to Senna. All we'll have to do is bring her through the Gate and the Valley of Screams can come the long way."

"How do you know the dangai connects this world to ours?" asked Sloth.

"I don't," I admitted. "It's pure theory that Senna's presence would bring the Valley of Screams, but even if it doesn't, Senna will be safely beyond the reach of anyone who would want to use her as a weapon."

"Except you," said Soi Fon.

"What do you plan to do with the Valley of Screams?" asked Rukia.

"A number of people from our world have been brought back to life by Sloth's powers or other means," I said. "Not one of them refused, and not one of them reported an afterlife worth living. I want to use the Valley of Screams as the basis of our own Soul Society."

"Would that work?" asked Chad.

"Records of the space inside the Valley of Screams describe it as habitable if a bit barren," I said. "All it needs is a senkaimon to allow souls to enter. Its own spiritual gravity will draw in nearby souls and with a senkaimon they'll be able to enter instead of compacting against the outside to form more blanks."

"If it were that easy to make a spiritual realm self regulating, my people never would've been considered the threat they were," noted Uryu.

"Senna will be there to train new soul reapers," said Sloth.

"And what's going to stop us from destroying the Valley of Screams as soon as it reaches a safe distance with the kido cannon?" asked Soi Fon.

"I can't stop you," I admitted. "I don't think the Soul Society is that pointlessly petty and evil, but I suppose if I'm proven wrong about that, I'll understand why Aizen decided it was a better idea to ally with the Menos."

"The entry portal the Ryodoji were planning to use to insert the Shinenju into the Valley of Screams will need to be guarded until the dimension has moved out of range," said Ukitake. "Assembling a senkaimon inside while we wait wouldn't take that much additional effort."

"Urahara'll have the materials we need," said Rukia.

"We're charging this to your account," warned Renji.

"I'll go along with this because I have to," said Soi Fon, "but you will be coming back to the Soul Society to answer for this insubordination when this is over."

"Let's get started, then," I said with a smile.

* * *

Senna had gone back to the quincy training ground and Soken had helped her hide in the shadow realm. A handful of blanks were wandering around the quincy training ground while Soken watched them curiously when I arrived. I used a handful of soul coins scribed with blood seals to absorb the blanks. They'd be useful as spare souls down the line.

In the shadow realm, I found Senna lying on her back, staring up at the outlines of the clouds visible in this world. I explained my proposed plan to her.

"I could never come back to this world," said Senna sadly. "I can never see Ichigo again."

"One of these days, we'll have enough free time for me to teach him alchemy," I said. "After that, he'll be able to come visit you."

"I don't want to put the world in danger," said Senna. "And I-I don't want to die. Can I say goodbye to everyone?"

"They'd be mad if they couldn't say goodbye," I said with a smile.

* * *

The members of the stealth force Soi Fon brought with her managed to locate the portal into the Valley of Screams. It was in the river. Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, and Uryu were gathered alongside the soul reapers to see us off. The first step was to escort Senna into the dangai.

We were walking for days as Senna's presence gradually moved the Valley of Screams safely out of range of both the Soul Society and the world of the living. The greater time density in the precipice world meant when we returned to the bridge in the world of the living, only a few minutes had passed. Senna bid Ichigo and the others a tearful goodbye and I clapped my hands.

A transmutation circle drew itself in midair over Sloth, Senna, and myself. Glowing blue, it swept down over us and we stood before the Gate. As the massive double doors opened, Sloth and I took up positions defending Senna from the shadowy, tentacle-like limbs of the Gate Children.

With the Truth pouring through me, forcing all the knowledge in the universe before my mind's eye, I was finally able to fully understand the temporal differential between worlds. The knowledge I'd absorbed from Mayuri's database gave me the context I needed. The temporal density of the precipice world isn't constant, and can be manipulated to synchronize or skew the time difference between worlds. That understanding let me navigate not only to the world and the place in that world I wanted, but to the moment I wanted to arrive.

* * *

Edward and Alphonse had just seen me off after I'd explained Sloth's bargain with Kyubey. We'd spent a month studying the Grief Seed I'd brought with me in Liore's laboratories. The transmutation circle drew itself and slid down, revealing me, Senna, and finally Sloth to the alchemist brothers who were practically family.

"Sloth, are you okay?" asked Alphonse with genuine concern in his voice. "Greed told us what happened. Were you able to fix it?"

"I-" started Sloth, then she choked up, unable to get out the words for all that had happened since. She teared up and hugged the young man who was the closest thing to a father she had and buried her wet face in his red coat.

"Things got pretty bad," I summarized. "They got better after, but she's been through a lot for the sake of her wish."

"Who's the other girl?" asked Edward.

"If you want to know someone's name, it's polite to give them your name first," chastised Senna.

"I guess you wouldn't have heard of me," said Edward, scratching his upper lip. "I'm actually pretty famous around here. My name's Edward Elric. The Fullmetal Alchemist."

"I'm Senna," she said.

"We have a lot to talk about," I said. "Rose and Noah should probably be there for the explanations."

* * *

"I knew alchemists were arrogant, but this is a few steps beyond playing God," said Rose. "You want to build an afterlife!"

"It's amazing how quickly you get used to an idea," said Sloth. "We ended up commuting between the world of the living and the Soul Society, so the idea of setting up a new one seemed mostly like a logistical headache than a theological issue."

"Yeah, when you put it like that, it does sound like a bigger deal than I was thinking of it as," I admitted.

"We're still getting people used to the magic school," said Rose. "Mustang hasn't even told people he's a homunculus yet."

"I'm not in any hurry to go back," I said. "I don't know if they'll just demote me for rescuing Senna or if they'll try and execute me. Either way, sticking around here and helping ease the transition seems like a great use of my time."

* * *

Over the next month, I managed to fall into a relatively pleasant routine. Each morning, I'd slit myself with my badge. Homunculus me would work with the electronics experts and alchemists to reproduce the Department of Research and Development's equipment for communication and monitoring using the backup copy of their database I'd brought with me. Soul reaper me would teach a class to the magic students who's spirit energy let them see and hear me about soul reapers and their role in the new order.

After work, homunculus me would socialize, catch up with people, and tell stories of the worlds I'd visited. Soul reaper me spent my off hours training. I managed to build up to the point where I could apparate, flash step, and cast mid level kido without a chant even while under limiters restricting my power to two percent.

Senna spent much of her time getting acclimated to this world. She had a good heart and made friends easily. This may not have been the world she was from, but she was made to feel welcome enough that she was calling it home by the end of her first week.

Sloth spent a lot of her time experimenting with her powers. She discovered that by infusing a mechanical object with her magic, she could control it. It would glow with a faint crimson aura while she was controlling it.

Even more amazingly, she learned that if she channeled her magic into a wand, she could transform it into a golden rod capped with a large, cut ruby. Spells could be cast through such a transformed rod using her Hogwarts training, though said spells did drain her Soul Gem. After some experimenting, she found that the rod actually stored the magic she channeled into it, only turning back into a normal wand after exhausting its stored magic. Even muggles could use a charged rod to cast spells if they got the incantation and wand movement right.

At the end of the month, our equipment picked up the Valley of Screams approaching. We'd done some calculations about how to put the Valley of Screams into a stable orbit relative to this world, and just how Senna was going to have to position herself in the dangai to make corrections. Those calculations would need to be redone pretty often to account for changes in the relative gravity of souls until the system reached a stable equilibrium.

The senkaimon had been sealed for the trip to this world to avoid the Valley of Screams picking up squatters or other unpleasant surprises. My zanpakto was the key that would open it. After a brief trip through the dangai, I entered the realm that would serve as the basis for a new afterlife.

The landscape was rocky and devoid of vegetation. The air was clear, and clouds drifted lazily overhead, but there were no visible lakes or rivers. It was a good thing most souls didn't need food or water.

"Does this place have its own sun?" asked Sloth, looking skyward and shielding her eyes with one hand.

"This world, and the other Soul Society, are both about the size of planets," I said. "You couldn't fit a star in either one. The barrier of the dimensions at the edge of the atmosphere allows light to travel one way from the living world ot here, so we're looking at the sun, moon, and stars of the nearby material world."

The senkaimon was positioned in a valley situation between high plateaus. Sloth and I were setting up some communication equipment when the senkaimon opened, admitting a man with short black hair wearing an Amestrian military uniform. He looked around in awe at his surroundings.

"Where am I now? What is this place?" he asked himself.

"Mr. Hues?" asked Sloth.

Looking at her, his eyes widened, then he gave a sad smile. "Hello, Nina. I guess that answers where I am. I guess all that time wandering those dank, lightless caves was enough to pay off my sins."

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way," I said. "You weren't in those caves because of anything you've done in life. You were there because this place didn't exist yet. Congratulations. Your soul is the first in this afterlife."

"First? But Nina-"

"I'm not Nina Tucker," said Sloth. "Please don't be afraid, but I was create as a homunculus based on Nina. My name is Sloth."

Hues tensed. Understandable, since as I understood it, he'd been killed by the homunculus Envy.

"We aren't part of the conspiracy that had you killed," I said. "We're just establishing a place where wandering souls can build a new life for themselves."

"Hey! How's it going in there?" called a voice over our communication equipment.

"Is that-?" began Hues.

Sloth smiled and went to the screen, gesturing Hues to follow. "Edward," she said, "you'll never guess who our first arrival was."

"Hues?" said Ed when Hues stepped into view. "I can't believe it. Al, get over here!"

"Mr. Hues?" said Alphonse.

"Al, is that you?" asked Hues. "What happened to the armor?"

"It's a long story," said Al, wiping away tears.

"Go ahead and catch up," I said. "I'll see about setting up shelters for the new arrivals."

* * *

Many more souls followed Hues. Only they knew how long they'd been wandering aimlessly through the passages of the dangai. All of them had the same questions. This wasn't what their religions had taught them the afterlife would be like.

Hues joined up with many of the departed Amestrian soldiers to establish order, protect the senkaimon and communication gear that let us contact the world of the living, and answer questions for new arrivals. Sloth and I used our magic to make the environment less barren and ease resource shortages. We conjured blankets, transfigured caves, and even charmed a number of barrels to always remain full of clean water. Seeds were brought from the world of the living so they could grow what little food they would need when souls with spirit energy started arriving.

Within a week, people were building homes, setting up businesses, and organizing into adoptive families. Communication was in high demand, so I taught a number of people how the equipment worked and multiplied a large supply of the needed parts. So many of them wanted to call the world of the living and speak with their loved ones.

The bottleneck for those ambitions was in the world of the living. Souls from all over the world were coming here, but the only people who knew what was going on and could signal back were in a small desert town on the eastern border of Amestris. I was glad I wasn't the one who had to sort out the logistics.

A provisional government was up and running within a month with Hues at the head. The more I watched him work, the more it became clear I was never meant for a large scale leadership and coordination role. My progress reforming the fifth division was moving so glacially slow by comparison because I couldn't muster the kind of enthusiasm he could for dealing with other people. I was, at heart, an introvert who got excited about discoveries and inventions and the occasional chance to show off. Hues brought the kind of fervor to his dealings with other people that I did when working on a new alchemy theory.

Hues coordinated with Rose and Mustang. Needed supplies were delivered through the senkaimon (on which I'd installed a spirit particle conversion device) and individual families were brought to Liore to speak with their departed loved ones, interact with the homunculus residents, and build up a base of people comfortable with these new ideas in anticipation of the day all of it could be brought out in the open. Watching people reunite with their loved ones over the communication lines was heartwarming. Mustang using that to build support for the other important policies he was championing was awe inspiringly shrewd.

Things were so well in hand by my third month back in Liore that I had time to work on my animagus transformation. I set mastering that ability as my indicator it was time to return to the bridge in Karakura Town and go with Soi Fon to face Central 46's judgement. I couldn't stay away forever. There was too much still to learn in that world, not to mention I'd left Loki behind, in part, so they could trust me to come back. Still, mastering the skill that had allowed Sirius Black to become the only person in history to escape Azkaban without outside help seemed like a reasonable precaution.

* * *

"I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this," said Sloth as she stared down at the table I was standing on.

I shifted my weight experimentally and raised two of my forelegs. I used them to rub my venomous fangs. Leaning further back, I employed my spinnerets to lay down a line of silk as I scurried across the table. In thin lines that were barely visible from reflected sunlight pouring in a window, were spelled out the words, "This form can write!"

I didn't have to turn to keep Sloth well within the wide field of vision provided by my eight, unblinking eyes, but I did so anyway so it'd be clear to her I was paying attention to her.

Sloth ran a finger down my back and said, "I guess it makes sense in a way. You can make someone sorry for messing with you even if you don't see them coming, but give you time to prepare and you'll dominate."

She moved her hand away and I flexed all eight legs and sprang backward. I resumed human form in mid-leap and landed in my chair across from her.

"You seem happy with it," said Sloth.

"Small and hard to detect, webbing for mobility or transmutation circles, great jumping distance, venomous bite, what's not to like?" I said, beaming.

"Just consider yourself lucky I'm not an arachnophobe," said Sloth, smirking.

My smile faded as I said, "I guess this is it."

"You're the one who set the deadline," said Sloth.

"I know," I said. "It's just... it's been nice being back here. It isn't perfect, but things make sense here in a way they don't always in other worlds."

"It's because you grew up here," said Sloth. "You're still used to the way things work here, even with all the traveling we've done. It's not a bad thing. You need a vacation as fast and steady as the crises have been in that last world."

"I couldn't have asked for a better one," I said. "Seeing Senna so easily accepted, and the Ryodoji's world ending weapon transformed into something wonderful, it makes it easier to face whatever's coming as the price for making this possible."

"And if the price is too high, you can just turn into a spider and scurry out before they realize what happened," added Sloth.

"Obviously," I said with a smirk.

* * *

Senna sent us off with a letter for Ichigo describing her new job maintaining the stability of the newly established afterlife and teaching soul reaper techniques to spiritually gifted individuals at Liore's magic school. It came with pictures of her teaching her classes, discussing things with the people manning the monitoring stations, and enjoying herself in her off hours on a ferris wheel she'd convinced one of the local alchemists to make for her. We delivered the letter seconds after we'd originally left.

"Now it's time to hold up your end of the bargain," said Soi Fon. "Lose the gigai."

"I want to thank all of you for your role in ending this crisis," said Ukitake.

"Rukia," said Ichigo, "am I going to need to do another rescue?"

"Disobeying a direct order from Central 46 is a serious crime," said Rukia, "but with everything he's done for the Soul Society, I'm sure they'll be lenient. I doubt you'll have to rush to stop another execution."

"Let's go," said Renji, opening the senkaimon. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get this over with."

I waved goodbye and stepped into the senkaimon, Sloth at my side.

"So, am I going to need to be rescued?" I asked after a long pause. With my soul gone, I'd only heard Ichigo's question, not the response from the soul reapers.

* * *

The chambers of Central 46 were designed to be intimidating. The accused stood alone in the center. Sloth had to wait outside. Rows of elevated seating surrounded me on all sides, housing the 46 members of the Soul Society's governing body. A few concealing placards in front of each member kept them safely anonymous.

"You stand accused of violating a level 1 order from this body," said one of their members. "Evidence corroborating these allegations has been provided by members of the stealth force."

"May I speak in my defense?" I asked.

"You have no right to speak in this chamber," snapped one of them. "Another outburst will be considered as an aggravating factor when sentence is handed down."

I nodded a bow and held my tongue. The records had given me the impression show trials were the norm, so I wasn't surprised exactly. It was a little disappointing to have it confirmed though.

"Not only did you disobey a direct order, but it was an order intended to ensure the survival of both worlds. Your reckless actions and treasonous insubordination endangered countless lives."

"A crime of this magnitude usually merits execution. Your efforts to thwart the traitor Soske Aizen and resolve the bount situation have not been forgotten. Still, a Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads disobeying a direct order cannot be tolerated.

"We therefor sentence you to have your spiritual powers sealed and banish you from the Seireitei."

I bowed in acknowledgement and followed the two members of the stealth force that were there to guard me out of the chamber. Several members of the kido corps were present just outside to carry out the sentence. A number of chants and hand signs accompanied symbols being carved into my back with a knife. One of the kido corps members was holding my zanpakto in front of me as the seals were applied, and I saw Tsumi no Rensa disappear as the ritual concluded.

"I heard the sentence," said Sloth as I left the building. "When are they going to carry it out?"

"They already have," I said, showing her the wounds on by back. "Once we're out of the Seireitei, I'd like you to apply some diatiny to these cuts. I'd rather not end up with permanent scars like Ran Tao has."

"Of course," said Sloth, falling into step with me and my escorts. "How are you holding up?"

"Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed," I said as we walked. "What we saw back home gave me some ideas for improving the fifth division farther and faster, but now that I'm not captain anymore, I can't implement them."

"What about losing your powers?" she asked.

"Oh, that I'm feeling pretty good about," I said with a smirk, "but we'll talk about that after you've applied that diatiny."

At the gate, I turned to the members of the stealth force guarding me and said, "If you get the chance, please thank the members of Central 46 for their leniency."

They left and I dropped to my knees outside the gate and let out a breath. Either they hadn't realized the problem, or more likely, they knew full well what I intended to do and passed the sentence with that in mind.

"Okay, spill," said Sloth as she took out a bottle of diatiny and carefully removed my shirt. "Why are you taking this so well?"

"There were a few possible outcomes for this 'trial'," I said as I felt the diatiny drip onto my cuts, seamlessly closing them with a hissing sound. "They could have ordered me executed or imprisoned, in which case, I'd've had to break out and then I'd have to deal with being a fugitive. They could've banished me to the human world, which would mean I'd have to illegally sneak in to the Soul Society to continue my work with the Rukon Militia and Rukon University. As it is, the only lingering issue is I'm not allowed back in the Seireitei. I also kind of doubt they'll accept me taking another crack at killing Mayuri.

"And your powers?" asked Sloth as she continued to apply the restorative liquid.

"There's a way to permanently destroy a soul reaper's powers," I said. "Instead, they opted for sealing mine. I think they knew I'd head straight for Mabashi to have my powers unsealed. They had to look tough given what I did, but they also know they need all the help they can get against Aizen."

"Um, Greed, you made him swear an unbreakable vow to only use his powers to uphold the law," said Sloth. "This isn't going to work."

"I left a loophole so he could restore Ran Tao's powers if she asked," I said. "This situation falls under the same loophole."

"I guess we'd better start walking," said Sloth.

"You can't apparate us with your new wand?" I asked.

"Apparition training's too risky. What if I splinch my Soul Gem? Even splinching off half your head you could survive long enough to be put back together in training."

"Fair, but what about a portkey?"

"Was I in your NEWT level Charms class?"

"I didn't imprint the knowledge for you?" I asked, thinking back.

"I didn't think I'd ever need it," said Sloth.

"Hm, what about broomsticks?" I suggested.

"Or we could give you a hand," said Renji, startling me. He and Rukia had come up behind us.

"How long have you been there?" I asked.

"Long enough to hear you're planning to see Mabashi in the hope he can unseal your powers," said Rukia. "You should really be more discrete with things like that."

"And I doubt they left the option open deliberately," said Renji. "Not very many people know the full extent of what the bounts can do, remember?"

"The Kuchki clan argued for leniency, but my brother's influence only goes so far," said Rukia. "This is definitely not what they had in mind."

"You mentioned help?" said Sloth.

Rukia and Renji both kneeled and cupped their hands behind their backs. "We'll carry you both to Mabashi using flash step," said Rukia.

"I have a favor to ask," said Renji as I climbed on his back. "You were able to increase your spirit energy immensely in an incredibly short time. Even Ichigo didn't grow that fast. How'd you do it?"

"Part of it is my time turner," I said. "It lets me pack months of training into hours of real time. The problem is you experience the full training time, so it's really only useful if you're up against a deadline like we were with the mod souls."

"And the rest?" he asked as we sped through the air, the forest below a flickering slide show of glimpses I caught between Renji's flash steps.

"A soul's spirit energy grows fastest when it's in danger of destruction. I sparred with Sloth with full contact. When I died, she brought me back."

"That... might not be the training for me," said Renji. "How many times did you die?"

"Between the mod soul training and the more recent one we put in before the trial, I've lost count. Definitely dozens. Maybe hundreds. She's a tough opponent."

"That is really messed up. You know that right?" Renji's tone wasn't judgemental, more akin to the tone you use when someone orders weird pizza toppings.

I smiled, shook my head, and said, "It's about trust. We both know for certain that if anything happens to one of us, the other will do everything in their power to make it right. When you're that sure, and you have the powers we do, dying isn't much worse than a bad knockout blow."

"I guess it's working out for you," said Renji. "Still, your idea of romance sounds like something Captain Zaraki would appreciate."

* * *

There was a lot of construction taking place in the town under Mabashi's supervision. People were moving from nearby districts to the relative safety of the bount's base of operations. The new housing was crude, but impressive for the tools available. At the sight of soul reapers, the crowds parted and we found Mabashi's office without any trouble.

Mabashi was leaning back in a wooden chair with his feet up on a desk. The building he was working out of had half a dozen wood barred prison cells, all currently empty. I kept the explanations brief.

"I could help you," said Mabashi. "Since coming to the Soul Society and absorbing the power of the Jokai crests, my Ritza has gotten even stronger. Since you aren't a soul reaper captain anymore, though, I'm not sure what's in it for me if I help you."

"You ungrateful-" started Renji before I silenced him with a raised hand.

"There's a lot I could do to make your life here more comfortable with my powers," I said. "I'm planning to use them to help provide weapons, equipment, and provisions for the militia. Beyond that, it looks like this town could benefit from better tools and construction materials. This is the best looking building in town, and I'll bet it's still drafty with a leaky roof."

Mabashi smiled and leaned forward, allowing his chair to settle onto all four legs. "I think we have a deal. Zeiga dich, Ritza!"

I felt an impact in the center of my chest and lost voluntary control of my body. Mabashi's doll began to draw out my spiritual pressure. As my spirit energy swelled, I felt the seals tightening around me like iron bands. I couldn't breathe. My heart was pounding in my chest. Ritza's efforts forcing my body to strain against the seals were painful and didn't seem to be getting anywhere. I wanted to tell Mabashi to stop, that I'd study the sealing kido more and try to find another solution. Ritza had overridden my control of my vocal cords.

Sweat ran down my body from the exertion that was pushing me well past my limits. Ritza ignored every one of the safety restraints the body uses to keep from injuring itself, and I couldn't scream out or even cringe. Just because I'd experienced far worse didn't mean this was a pleasant experience, and in some ways my immobility and helplessness made it worse than some of the things I'd experienced that were significantly more painful.

My occlumency barriers kept any internal screaming at a level below what Sloth could hear. While I had doubts and fleeting desires to make it stop and accept that meant this wasn't going to amount to anything, I knew those thoughts were fleeting and that I'd torture myself with what-ifs if I didn't give this a fair shot. Uryu had endured this, and even thanked Mabashi after it was over. I kept that in mind.

Finally, I felt the first seal break. More followed in quick succession, and not only could I breathe again as my spiritual pressure broke free, but my hand was wrapped around the hilt of my zanpakto. I could hear Tsumi no Rensa breathe a sigh of relief of his own when the final seal broke away.

Mabashi called Ritza to return, and I collapsed to my knees from exhaustion as the doll left my body. Sloth transformed her Soul Gem from ring to egg form and bathed my body in crimson light. Soreness faded from my muscles, exhaustion vanished, and even hunger was lifted. I hugged Sloth, wearing an enormous smile.

"It worked!" I said. "I didn't realize how bad that was going to feel, but it worked!"

"Do you want to lie down?" asked Mabashi.

"Actually," I said, getting to my feet, "I've never felt better. Impervious! There, that spell ought to keep out the wind and rain. As for the rest..."

With a wave of my hand, I conjured hammers, saws, measuring tapes, levels, carpentry squares, and axes along with large boxes of nails and large cans of roofing tar. This would give them a good head start.

"I think I'll also set up a network of portkeys between you guys' distant settlements and the Seireitei. I'll put them on timers to swap positions on the hour so they can work like a bus system. It'll make it a lot easier to coordinate training and distribute equipment."

* * *

The Rukon District had no shortage of souls who'd been police or military in life. Everyone from common riflemen to generals were represented in the men and women who had gathered in Kusajishi. Rukia and Renji joined Sloth and I to see what was going on.

"Thank you all for coming," I said, stepping up about three feet in the air on a platform of condensed spirit energy so I could be seen by those gathered. "I recognize many of you from my recruitment trip. Others, I assume are here because you've heard about what we're doing second hand. A few things have changed since we last talked, so I'd like to go over the details for you so we'll all be on the same page.

"We're gathered here to establish a militia for the Rukon District. The original plan was to establish the militia under the auspices of my squad, but as I've recently been stripped of my rank of captain and banished from the Seireitei, this is now an independent project. Let me make one thing clear, this is not an army raised to fight the soul reapers or the Seireitei. We will be working in cooperation with them. Anyone who has a problem with that can leave now.

"Those of you who remain will be organized into a series of small reserve forces and distributed among the towns of the Rukon District to serve as law enforcement and first responders in the event of a hollow attack or other threat to the people under our protection. Protocols will be established for calling in reinforcements from nearby settlements in an emergency. As we recruit more soldiers, we can provide protection to more settlements until the entire Rukon District is under our protection.

"As we expand our coverage and logistical base, more and better equipment will be made available for your use. For now, it's just the basics. Everyone will be provided with a uniform and a kido gun which should allow you to easily destroy most hollows."

Koga and Ran Tao had been supervising the production of kido guns, but this was the first time I'd mentioned uniforms. I waved my hand and conjured several crates of blue amestrian military uniforms in various sizes. Since I was no longer in any way associated with the Seireitei's military, I changed out of my soul reaper uniform and into the new amestrian style militia uniform with everyone else.

Ran Tao's kido guns had the ergonomics of a rifle. They worked by passively absorbing spirit energy into internal capacitors who's design she'd based on a quincy tool called a ginto. These capacitors would fully charge overnight in a high reshi environment like the Soul Society and would provide twelve shots when fully charged. Each shot was powerful enough to seriously injure a captain class opponent. They were rugged weapons, requiring remarkably little maintenance and upkeep.

After some target practice to make sure our volunteers all knew how to shoot straight, we went over the details for chain of command, how to explain the militia to members of the public and the soul reapers, and when and how to call for backup. Things were starting small and simple. The bounts were given authority to enforce a basic code of conduct and punish abuses of power by members of the militia.

Once the militia members returned to their villages, the next step was the research facilities. Ran Tao had worked with the architects and construction workers to determine what was needed. All I had to do was conjure tools, multiply building materials, and stay out of their way while they worked. Those tools doubled as the payment for the workers on this project, which they'd be able to use on their own projects.

"It looks like you have this under control," I said. "The next time I come to the Soul Society, I'll bring a copy of Mayuri's data and we'll cast the spells to secure it."

"How are you going to get back to the world of the living?" asked Renji. "Being banished from the Seireitei means you can't use the main senkaimon."

"Fortunately, the militia has its own senkaimon," said Koga, who then used a chant to summon the green and silver gate the bounts had used to invade the Soul Society. "Without a quincy arrow, only spirits can pass through, but this suits our purposes."

"We'll be seeing you guys," I said, waving. "Thanks for all your help."

"Bye," said Sloth.

Rukia and Renji waved back as Sloth and I entered the senkaimon and returned to the world of the living. Once we were back in the world of the living and merged with our homunculus selves, Sloth and I called Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Orihime to let them know what had happened. There was no point letting them worry until we saw them at school the next day.

* * *

Author's comments:  
It took me a while to finally settle on what to do with the Valley of Screams. I had considered Senna being killed off for various reasons and being preserved as a portrait, but decided a portrait is too alive to be able to retain knowledge of her. Once I hit on the idea of using it as the basis of a new Soul Society connected to the world of Fullmetal Alchemist, it was too good to pass up.


	33. Chapter 38: Beginning Quincy Training

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 38) Beginning Quincy Training  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

At breakfast, Sloth and I discussed our plans for the week.

"I think you're right that burning through my soul's effective lifespan with accelerated training is a bad idea," I said. "Barring an emergency, that part of me shouldn't be included in any time turning, at least until Ran Tao's had a chance to go over Mayuri's data and improve her process."

"We'll disrupt Uryu's training as little as possible if we go see Soken in spirit form while our homunculus selves are in school with the others," said Sloth.

"Our homunculus selves can time turn to get in accelerated training," I said. "I think we should join every martial arts dojo and kendo school in town, maybe shape shift a little so we don't tip anyone off that there's anything weird going on."

"If we're doing that, I should join some yo-yo clubs too," said Sloth.

"Good idea," I said. "I'll have to check around to see if anyplace offers any kind of training that could be relevant to my shikai."

"What's the plan for keeping our red stone enhanced strength from messing up our training?" asked Sloth as she put a bite of pancake in her mouth.

"Same method we used in the Soul Society," I said. "I'll add the sealing arrays to the inside of pairs of spirit energy sealing bracers. Won't cause us to vomit up our red stones, but it will neutralize them so our strength, speed, shape shifting, and regeneration won't function until we take them off. I'll add a visual barrier so the muggles won't see us wearing them."

"That reminds me," said Sloth. "Since you didn't use the main senkaimon, you don't have that power limiting tattoo on you, right?"

I nodded, swallowing a bite of egg, and said, "It's just my badge acting as a limiter for now. I'll need to put together the equipment for a power limiting tattoo at some point to help with my training, since my spirit energy won't grow as fast without danger."

"And we know Aizen was strong enough to block Ichigo's bankai with one finger," said Sloth, nodding. "And that was before he got Urahara's notes that'll let him upgrade his hogyoku."

"I should probably talk to Kiske about upgrading his hogyoku," I said. "I saw what he needs to do in the Gate."

"What is that thing made of anyway?" asked Sloth.

"Bits and pieces of spirit energy extracted from different kinds of souls while they're experiencing intense emotions," I said. "I'm pretty sure it works on some of the same principles as Soul Gems and Grief Seeds. It uses nonlethal amounts of energy extracted from multiple souls instead of converting one soul in its entirety like Kyubey does."

"Which suggests that was probably an option for Kyubey too," said Sloth, pushing her plate aside. "Any thoughts on how to kill the bastard?"

"Adava kedavra ought to do it," I said. "If what we think we know about him is true, all of his bodies are connected to each other, like they're different fingers of a larger being poking into our level of reality. Since he's essentially one creature, a killing curse with enough power should propagate through to all his bodies, no matter how numerous or distant."

"What do you mean, 'enough power'?" asked Sloth.

"Like Crouch Jr. explained, the killing curse requires a level of magical power or it will just injure its target. Something as big as Kyubey'll probably take a lot more power to take down than a soul reaper captain has. How much more, I can only roughly estimate."

"I guess we'll table that for now," said Sloth. "Work on more immediate concerns."

* * *

Relying on our inhuman strength, speed, and endurance had worked out well for Sloth and I in the past, but against opponents of comparable speed and power, skill would carry the day. Even with the bracers deactivating our red stone empowered abilities, Sloth and I didn't get tired. We were able to go from one dojo to the next, practicing swordsmanship and hand to hand combat in a variety of styles under a multitude of skilled instructors.

We set it up so the martial arts training came before our time in the high school. The meaningless lessons we didn't have to listen to would be a chance to go over everything in our minds, relax, and meditate. Socializing with our friends between and after class was a nice reward worth looking forward to.

"Your alchemy training just became optional," I said to Keigo and Tatski at lunch. Opening a bag, I took out a pair of kido guns.

"Whoa, what the hell are you doing with those? You can't bring guns to school!" exclaimed Keigo.

"I applied a visual barrier," I said. "Only people who can see spirits can see these weapons."

"Where'd you get 'em?" asked Tatski.

"They're imported from the Soul Society," I said. "They should be able to take out any hollow you run into. They're easy to use, come with twelve shots and they're surprisingly accurate."

"Where do we get more ammunition?" asked Tatski, lifting one of the rifles and getting a feel for the grip.

"We'll need to take them back to the Soul Society to recharge," said Sloth. "Greed and I'll keep fully charged backup weapons on hand you can swap out with us while we're charging yours."

"Even if no one can see it, it'll look weird caring around an invisible gun all the time," complained Keigo.

"These bags are also invisible, and they're bigger on the inside than the outside," I said, handing them carrying cases I'd prepared that morning. "Keep the bag tied to your belt and you'll be fine."

"So, you said alchemy training was optional now?"" said Tatski.

"What you've been shown so far was a quick crash course so you could use it in self defense," I said. "With the kido guns, you shouldn't need to use combat alchemy. If you want, I can still teach you alchemy, only this time in a more comprehensive way."

* * *

"The math looks reasonable," said Kiske after he'd gone over my notes on how to complete his hogyoku. "The question is, why would I want to finish it?"

"Aizen's using your research to upgrade his," said Sloth. "He might already know some of what Greed figured out and your notes could be all he needs to complete his."

"I understand that, but how does making the one in our possession more powerful help us counter Aizen's hogyoku?" said Kiske. "A tool's only useful if you're willing to use it. Ichigo's told you what he's going through. Are you volunteering for hollowfication?"

"I'd like to keep the option open," I said. "There's no downside to being ready."

"I suppose not," said Kiske. "Of course, completing the hogyoku will involve collecting energy from a soul reaper in extreme emotional distress. If you're keeping the option open, it seems only fair you volunteer to be our donor."

"Absolutely," I said. "I have potions that will induce the needed emotional states."

"Excellent," said Kiske. "The amounts we need shouldn't take too long to heal."

"I'll be healing him immediately," said Sloth. "You can get all your samples in one go."

"I can get my equipment ready and we can handle things later today," said Kiske. "Just make sure you think this through before you decide to undergo hollowfication. Yoruichi, Tessai, and I have had the hogyoku for over a hundred years and none of us has decided to go through with it. Aizen's been using his to turn hollows into arancars. There's no sign he's considered using it on himself either. Once you take this step, there's no going back to being an ordinary soul reaper ever again."

* * *

"We've brought the secrecy sensor," I said when we arrived at the quincy training grounds in the early morning.

"Uryu told me what it cost you to save the girl, Senna's life," said Soken. "You must think ill of me for still demanding such guarantees."

"It would be easy to lie about what happened in the Soul Society," I said. "I don't have a problem letting you verify my word. I did the same with Rukia before I got to know her."

Taking the secrecy sensor from me, Soken said, "I'll look the device over overnight, and if it works like you say it does, I'll be able to accept your oaths of secrecy about our techniques tomorrow. In the meantime, there's no harm in going over some of the basics the soul reapers have long since figured out."

Soken gestured for Sloth and I to have a eat next to the small fire pit that served as the only sign of human inhabitation. Once we sat, Soken opened his cloak to reveal a white uniform with blue trim similar, but not identical to the one Uryu wore when entering the Soul Society. A five armed quincy cross hung from a chain around his neck.

"Like soul reapers, quincies use spirit energy in order to battle hollows. There are two main differences. First, and most famously, while a soul reaper's zanpakto purifies the souls of slain hollows, a quincy's arrow extinguishes utterly the souls slain by it. The other main difference is that while soul reapers fight using the spirit energy inside their bodies, quincies draw on ambient spirit energy from the environment.

"The traditional weapon of the quincies is the bow. It is formed by using a specially prepared cross as a focus, then shaping the ambient spirit energy into shaft and string. Beginners form a bow of light, while more advanced quincies can form a bow that appears to be completely solid."

"How long does it take to learn to form a bow?" asked Sloth.

Soken smiled and said, "I suppose that depends on what you're asking. Gathering spirit energy, and forming something is a very straightforward process, the work of an hour's instruction at worst. Learning to shape it into a proper bow, maintain it while forming an arrow, and releasing that arrow with any kind of power or accuracy is the work of months. Truly mastering the weapon requires years of training."

"Can you give us that initial instruction?" asked Sloth.

"It isn't something that needs to be kept secret," said Soken. "It requires a quincy's inborn ability to gather reshi. It isn't something a soul reaper can learn."

"My powers aren't like soul reaper powers," said Slothy. "I really don't know what I can or can't do."

"Even if we can't do it, we'd appreciate learning the theory," I said.

"I suppose there's no harm in it," said Soken. Digging through his pockets, he handed each of us a small, silver cross on a short, bracelet length ball chain. Following Uryu's example, Sloth and I put the bracelets on our left wrists. Uryu wore his on his right, but he was left handed.

Despite his claim that only a quincy could gather reshi in the way required, I followed his instructions, trying to pull nearby spirit energy toward the quincy cross on my wrist. He explained the feel of the technique, demonstrated it so I could observe the way the spirit energy gathered, and offered tips, advice, and visualization techniques. There was no doubt in my mind by the end of this that my inability to gather spirit energy really was down to my spiritual powers genuinely not working that way rather than any lack of effort from Soken as an instructor.

Sloth channeled her magic into the quincy cross on her wrist. Like with the wands, her power caused the cross to transform. Silver turned to gold, and a single cut ruby flashed into existence at the center where the bars of the cross intersected. The central ruby glowed red and a transparent crimson orb formed around the cross. Blue motes of spirit energy were visibly drawn from our surroundings and into that orb, their blue light shining brightly enough to overwhelm the orb's own light, leaving only a faint red tint to the ball of glowing blue spirit energy.

Closing her fist, spirit energy burst out of the top and bottom of the orb she'd gathered. At first, I thought she'd lost containment. Then the spraying fountains of blue spirit energy froze in place, tapering to rough points. Sloth held the construct for a few seconds before it burst like a popped balloon, the gathered reshi dissipating back into the air. The cross itself faded back into the plan silver cross it'd started as.

"Okay, I'm impressed," I said.

"As am I," admitted Soken. "What exactly did you do?"

"One of my powers as a magical girl is to put my magic into an object," said Sloth. "The magic lets me control the object and enhance its capabilities. It let me use a wand without the prereqs. I was hoping it'd work the same for a quincy cross."

"Can I try?" I asked.

Sloth touched her Soul Gem to the silver cross on my wrist and it transformed like Sloth's had. Soken watched with interest as I tried to use the magically transformed cross to try to gather and shape ambient spirit energy. I had no more luck than I had with the unaltered cross.

"I guess this one requires more manual control from me than a wand," said Sloth.

"Was worth a shot," I said. "Congratulations on getting it to work for you."

"It sounds like I've got a lot more practice before I can do anything useful with it, but I'm pretty proud of myself," said Sloth.

"Are you certain you have no quincy ancestors?" asked Soken.

"If I was really a quincy I wouldn't need to transform the cross to use it," said Sloth.

Sloth practiced the rest of the morning on shaping the energy construct under Soken's tutelage. It was starting to look a little like a bow by the time Soken called a halt around noon. He needed to prepare for Uryu's lessons when he got out of class.

When you return tomorrow, I'll have had time to go over your secrecy sensor," said Soken. "We'll continue to build on these fundamentals and I'll be able to trust you with some of the secrets of our clan."

* * *

Back at Urahara's shop, Kiske greeted Sloth and I then brought us downstairs to his underground training area. Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta were waiting for us.

"The boss says we're gonna torture you," said Jinta.

I took five bottles and set them on the ground. I pointed to each in turn. "Fear. Rage. Relief. Joy. Despair. Each bottle's dosed to cause about thirty seconds of the given emotion in me. Long enough to extract your samples."

"It would've been a lot more fun doing it the other way," said Jinta.

"Don't worry, Jinta," said Kiske. "This one'll be quick and relatively painless, but it certainly won't be if he follows up."

"I'll be casting some binding spells so you don't lash out," said Tessai.

I nodded my assent and he began casting. Once I was fully immobilized, with Sloth watching the proceedings, Kiske came up to me with a tool for extracting spirit energy that looked like a syringe.

"Jinta, give him the first dose, please," said Kiske.

My potions were well brewed, each provoking an extreme emotional reaction. I struggled against the powerful kido spells binding me in vain, first despirate to escape, then despirate to tear out Kiske's throat with my teeth as he collected the samples he needed to complete his hogyoku. The intensity of the emotions induce by the potions fortunately pushed me beyond rational thought. Once Kiske had his samples and I was thinking clearly again, I realized Tessai's binding spells weren't as secure as we'd assumed.

Cloth wrapped my body like a straight jacket, with its loose ends nailed to the ground. A rope of yellow light wrapped around my torso, and six wedges of yellow light impale me through my center of mass, holding me fast. Rather than wait for Tessai to undo the binding spells, I simply took on my animagus form. As a spider, I was below the wedge shaped binding spell and able to easily slip loose from the rope-like restraints. I took a few steps forward to get out from under the bindings and resumed human form.

"How did you-?" asked Jinta in surprise.

"I see Yoruichi's been training you behind my back," said Kiske with a quiet smile.

"No. This just isn't that rare a technique where we were originally trained," I said.

"I don't know about that," said Sloth. "There were a lot more wizards than there are soul reapers and only about a dozen animagi. We just got lucky having teachers who could do it."

"Wait, did he turn into a cat and I missed it?" asked Jinta.

"He was a spider," corrected Ururu.

"You mean you saw it and I didn't? You're supposed to tell me these things so I don't miss them!" exclaimed Jinta, pulling Ururu's hair painfully.

"That's enough, you two," said Urahara, breaking them up. "Tessai, I'm going to need a barrier so I can be sure I'm working privately."

"Sure thing, boss," said Tessai as he raised a kido barrier around the building.

Kiske retrieved the hogyoku and removed the prismatic barrier around the small black orb. Opening the vials of emotionally tainted spirit energy he'd extracted from me, he placed their contents near the orb. I could feel the hogyoku's power, similar to that of a Soul Gem or a Grief Seed, as it drew the extracted reshi samples into itself. As it did so, it visibly changed. Its size increased to almost as big as a pool ball, and its black surface became an iridescent swirl of colors. Kiske reapplied his barrier to the new completed hogyoku and returned it to its hiding place.

"Your option's open," said Kiske. "Hopefully, we won't need it."

* * *

"Orihime and I are heading down to the hospital," said Sloth once the two of us had reunited body and soul right as our homunculus selves stepped out of the school. "We can help people muggle medicine can't and give her more practice with her healing powers."

"That sounds good," I said. "Have fun. I figure I'll put together something to apply that spirit energy sealing tattoo after the day's alchemy lessons."

The shift from combat alchemy to a more wholistic treatment of the subject meant Tatski and Keigo had a lot of studying to do on basic chemistry, geology, and the like. We were at the point of assigned readings and quizzes, so the lesson didn't particularly drag on. I was out in plenty of time to work on my device.

The tattoo I applied to my soul reaper self took the form of an oroboros mark in the same position it appeared on my homunculus body, directly in the center of my chest. That tattoo had the same effect of limiting me to twenty percent power as the ones that had been applied during my captaincy. The differences were that it wouldn't automatically lift when I want to the Soul Society, and that I didn't need anyone's permission to remove the limiter. All I had to do was speak the limit release authorization command, "gentai kaijo," and the tattoo would vanish, giving me access to all of my spirit energy.

I'd just finished when Sloth returned home. She had a notebook out and looked excited.

"Orihime doesn't have healing powers!" said Sloth with glee.

"Um, what?" was all I coud say to that.

"Remember how I told you we were going to the hospital so she could practice with her powers? There were enough people with enough different issues that I found a pattern. She couldn't heal birth defects or congenital conditions. Severe, sudden traumas like car accidents were easier for her to heal than slow, lingering deterioration. It's all here."

"I still don't understand."

"She isn't healing injuries. She's reversing them. Her abilities let her selectively reverse events. The body's state is reverted to a state before the injury happened or the illness was contracted."

"That's how she was able to restore your Soul Gem," I said, finally understanding. "That's amazing."

"It gets better," said Sloth. "She can reverse fatal injuries and bring back the dead."

"Clothing under her shield heals like flesh," I noted. "That means her powers work on inanimate objects the same way. I should've seen it sooner."

"Don't feel bad," said Sloth. "We were halfway through our session before I noticed the pattern and realized what it meant."

"That shield is very selective," I said. "It'd have to be to reverse time just for the part of the body inside the shield without messing up the rest of the body at the interface. It isn't conscious, those fine corrections. The girl's smart, but that would require knowledge of anatomy on par with one of us."

"If we figured out the details, could we duplicate her powers?" asked Sloth.

"We know she's using spirit energy, but there's nothing quite like her powers anywhere in Mayuri's data. I won't know if we can copy her powers until we learn more about them."

"Can you imagine?" asked Sloth, staring into space. "Teams of magical girls working with wi- with spiritually aware humans trained in Orihime's techniques. Swelling their ranks by restoring witches and never needing to worry about finding enough Grief Seeds. The whole planet could be swept clean of Kyubey's pollution."

"And that's assuming we can't find a way for a magical girl to do it directly," I said. "Once we clear the foeglass of our enemies in this world, we'll have the luxury of time to study her powers and work out a plan for when we go back and tear down Kyubey's system."

* * *

True to his word, Soken had tested the secrecy sensor and was ready to accept our oaths. He agreed to teach us all of the accumulated knowledge of their clan on the sole condition that we keep what we learned a secret from the soul reapers. We had to promise not ot so much as use the techniques in battle where there was a chance we might be observed doing so and an account might get back to the soul reapers.

We agreed to his terms. Sloth and I had plenty of other powers to rely on in batte. Obviously this applied only to techniques unique to the quincies. Basic spirit energy control, sensing, and concealment were all fair game.

As Sloth continued to work on forming her bow, Soken explained about various tools the quincies employed that we could construct or utilize. The method for creating soul synthesized silver and soul synthesized glass were among the first things he explained after he had our promise of secrecy. He went on to explain how to make a proper quincy cross, whether from soul synthesized silver or from ordinary silver.

In addition to their bows, quincies had a tool called a seele schneider. In the hands of a quincy, it could be used to form a spiritual arrow with a rapidly vibrating blade that could double as a sword. With its silver hilt and glowing blue reshi blade, it had a superficial resemblance to our alchemic blades. The vibration of the reshi blade broke down spiritual matter with remarkable speed and efficiency. Like with the quincy cross itself, Sloth was able to use a seele schenider after transforming it with her magic, but I couldn't.

Gintos, though, I could use. Gintos were small silver tubes about the size of my thumb that were used in quincy spell casting. Each tube needed to be filled with liquid reshi, though they could refill themselves in a high spirit energy environment like the Soul Society. The number of spells that could be cast using them was extremely limited, even compared with soul reaper kido. One spell could break a fall from a great height, one could summon a metal block to punch a hole in an opponent, and one could bind an opponent in a small prison of stone. There were a couple of others that could be cast in conjunction with the seele schneiders, but that was pretty much it. The advantage was that ginto spells could be used even in our soulless homunculus forms.

There existed other quincy tools Soken knew how to use but couldn't manufacture. No doubt a lot of knowledge had been lost in the quincy genocide. The artifact Nemu had given Uryu was one such tool, and the most tragic one to be unable to reproduce. It emulated a quincy's powers. It was fragile, and if overtaxed would explode like a small nuclear bomb, but it represented a way for the techniques of the quincies to survive the loss of the final members of their clan.

The other artifact Soken knew how to use but not reproduce was called the Sanrei Glove. Uryu had used it in the Soul Society in his attempt to kill Mayuri. If another could be found, it would be able to be used in a kind of quincy resistance training. As the end result of this training is what had cost Uryu his powers, my interest in the subject was largely academic. Destroying my powers, even in the name of defeating a hated foe, seemed like a bad deal to me.

Neither Sloth nor I could use the quincy high speed movement technique called hirenkyaku. In theory, it involved gathering a current of solidified reshi under your feet and riding it. Soken claimed it was faster than the soul reapers' flash step, but I doubted relations between the two peoples had ever been good enough to let their top speedsters have a race.

Sloth continued to work on her bow over the next couple weeks while I worked through exercises for building, controling, sensing, and concealing spirit energy. We also added muggle archery lessons to our training in homunculus form so she'd be ready when she finally did master forming a bow.

During that second week, I made a trip to the Soul Society to deliver the database backup from squad 12 to Ran Tao at the university. The militia was working miracles. The security they were able to provide gave people the confidence to build homes and businesses even in what had formerly been the roughest parts of the Rukon District. I worked with Ran Tao to set up a communications hub so we could discuss our respective research even when I was in the world of the living on a secure, encrypted line that wasn't being routed through Squad 12's barracks. Once we had the staff for it, we would hopefully be able to equip the militia with soul phones on our network, though it'd be months before we had people sufficiently trained for that.

All the while, a threat grew closer and clearer in my foeglass. Aizen's elite arancars, the Espada, were going to make a move soon.

* * *

Author's comments:  
It genuinely does bother Greed that the quincies are dying out. The loss of their knowledge, lore, and techniques seems incredibly wasteful to him. He could probably improve his personal powers faster by focusing on the way soul reapers train, but the threat that the quincies will die out entirely before he can learn everything they can teach him is motivating him to put a lot of his efforts into that instead of other things he could be doing.


	34. Chapter 39: Hueco Mundo's Opening Gambit

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 39) Hueco Mundo's Opening Gambit  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

It was late in the evening when my soul phone woke me up from a sound sleep with an alert. We'd had a pretty consistent stream of hollows for the past couple weeks, one or two of them a day. Usually, Ichigo got to them and finished them off before I arrived. A natural side effect of his uncontrolled spirit energy being the main thing that was attracting them. I'd managed to beat him to the punch with apparition once or twice, but most of the time I might as well not have bothered to show up.

This alert was different. There were multiple intrusions, a weaker hollow near Ichigo's house and two much stronger ones on opposite sides of town. The hollow close to Ichigo was a distraction, and from the way that signal quickly vanished, he'd taken the bait. I shook Sloth awake.

"We've got two hollows at or above menos level. Ichigo's out of position. We need to go."

"Drop me off near one then apparate to go deal with the other," said Sloth, transforming into her magical girl form and clipping on her utility belt and Soul Gem cover.

Nodding, I took Sloth's hand, turned on the spot, and the two of us appeared in a dark street. We were nearly collided with by Kon in Ichigo's body as we appeared. As he started to complain about that, an enormous humanoid hollow with brown fur, a mask that didn't properly cover its face, and a sword strapped to its back fell from the sky, its landing shaking nearby buildings.

"I've got big ugly here," said Sloth, summoning a yo-yo with a smirk. "You go deal with the other one."

"All right," I said. "Be careful though. I know you can't sense spirit energy, but he's tougher than he looks."

I checked my phone and apparated to where the second hollow was. This one was far less humanoid. It had grey skin, a pointed head, a cracked mask, and balanced itself on a lower body built like a pointed top. It barely looked organic. The hollow's tongue was several feet long, prehensile, and pointed like a spear tip.

I used my badge to split my soul reaper and homunculus selves. Homunculus me rolled left and popped in the Mad Eye. Soul reaper me rolled right and drew my zanpakto.

Homunculus me was the backup plan. Powerful and immortal, there was no question my homunculus self could crush this hollow with little trouble. With no civilians anywhere nearby this was an opportunity to test my progress in developing my spiritual powers.

Hollows have the ability to detect spirit energy. The hollow instinctively ignored homunculus me and lanced its tongue at my soul reaper self like a spear. I raised Tsumi on Rensa to block, calling out, "Protego!" an instant before the attack hit.

The hollow's tongue punched through my shield spell like it wasn't there, snapped the blade of my blocking zanpakto in half, and pierced my left lung. Danger was key to growing my spirit energy, but fighting this thing at two percent power was going to get me killed far too quickly for that to be useful.

I touched the substitute soul reaper badge on my belt and deactivated the power limiter. My spirit energy increased tenfold in an instant. The additional spirit energy limited the damage to my lung as I called out my zanpakto's release command, "Bind, Tsumi no Rensa!"

A broken blade didn't hinder a zanpakto's release in the slightest. Now holding a length of chain instead of a broken sword, I swung Tsumi no Rensa at the tongue piercing my chest. Adding links to the far end of the chain and removing them from nearer my hand, the effect was akin to the blade of a chainsaw. My shikai cut through the hollow's tongue like a hot knife through butter.

The hollow recoiled in pain, and I flash stepped backward to get some distance. I tugged the severed tongue out of my wound and employed a handful of basic healing spells to mend my broken ribs, stop the bleeding in my lung, and close the skin. I wasn't the only one who was healing. White tissue seemed to bubble on the severed edge of the hollow's tongue and it rapidly regrew.

The hollow's high speed regeneration meant it was bound to win a war of attrition. Regenerative abilities in hollows weren't nearly as potent as those of homunculi. Do enough damage fast enough to the vital organs of a hollow with high speed regeneration and it would die. The trouble was that my healing kido was still a lot slower and a lot less thorough than the hollow's regeneration.

I flash stepped to evade the tongue and maneuvered behind the hollow. I swung Tsumi no Rensa for the hollow's neck, hoping to wrap it, then constrict the creature's neck until it was decapitated. An instant before my chain found its target, a booming noise sounded and the top half of the hollow vanished.

I was disoriented for an instant, enough time for the lower half of the hollow to spring up at me. A second face with its own broken mask was on top of the top-like lower body. It closed its jaws around my legs, severing and devouring them at the knee.

This was a two on one fight. The top hollow had used an arancar technique Kaien Shiba had told the Soul Socieyt about called soinido. It was a high speed movement technique like flash step or hirenkyaku, though it worked on yet another differant mechanism, expelling short bursts of spirit energy opposite their intended direction of travel, arancars using this technique propelled themselves like rockets. A distinct booming sound accompanied their starts and stops. That was how I knew the upper hollow had soinidoed behind me.

I couldn't flash step without my legs, but I had other options. I extended the length of Tsumi no Rensa and wrapped a nearby tree. Removing links between me and the tree, I pulled myself temporarily out of harm's way, though at the cost of dragging myself face first through the dirt for a short distance. I had the regenerative serum to grow back my legs, but the hollows weren't going to let up their attack long enough for me to inject it. Fortunately, that emergency escape had given me a plan.

Wrapping Tsumi no Rensa around my shoulders, I threw out a grapple line to the tops of two nearby trees. By adding or removing links at various points, I could control my movement and stay more or less upright. Dodging a fresh attack from the lower hollow, I pointed at the upper hollow and called out the incantation for a tongue tying jinx. It usually had limited utility, mostly against enemy spell casters, but against a hollow that used its tongue as its primary weapon, it was devastatingly effective.

Its surprise left it open, and with a quick motion, I was able to wrap a length of chain around its neck. The hollow raised its hands to its neck, but I didn't give it the chance to try and pry itself loose. I rapidly removed links from the loop around its neck, decapitating it.

I was jerked off balance as the remaining hollow knocked down one of the trees I was using for support. Flat on my back on the ground, I saw the limbless hollow spring up in the air and launch face first toward me. I raised both hands and screamed out, "Impedimenta!"

The hollow froze in midair, its snapping jaws too close to me for comfort. Staring into those jaws, a morbid idea formed in my mind. I detached a link from my zanpakto and tossed it inside the hollow's mouth. Then I added links ot the one inside its body until it exploded from the internal pressure the rapidly growing mass of metal caused.

When I resealed my zanpakto into the form of a sword again, the blade was undamaged. As my homunculus self strolled through the carnage to me, I injected the regenerative drugs and regrew my legs. Now that I had a moment to reflect, the fight hadn't really been two on one after all. Without Tsumi no Rensa supporting me when I needed him, I never would have been able to beat those two arancars without resorting to releasing my full power. As it was, I'd needed twenty percent just to keep up.

Homunculus me had been watching soul reaper me's fight with the arancars with the Mad Eye and had kept my organic eye on my soul phone. Once we were again one being, I apparated to the last location the furry hollow had been detected before its spirit energy disappeared. That was where I'd find Sloth.

Sloth was standing over the mangled corpse of her hollow opponent. Kon was peeking out from behind a bush. The hollow had altered its form somewhat from when I'd dropped Sloth off. It didn't look like it'd helped him against the magical girl.

"You beat Grand Fisher!" declared Kon with shock.

"The hollow that killed Ichigo's mom?" I asked.

Kon nodded.

"I'm not so sure," said Sloth, eyeing the corpse suspiciously and holding a yo-yo at the ready. "Don't hollows dissolve when they're really dead?"

"It will but it'll take a few hours," I said. "Arancars decompose at the same rate as soul reapers."

"Arancar? What's that?" asked Kon.

"An arancar is a hollow that's been able to partly remove its mask," I said. "By doing so, they gain soul reaper like abilities. Aizen's been using his hogyoku to transform hollows into arancars for a while to build his army."

"Why send them here?" asked Sloth.

"I suspect they were sent to test out how they performed in battle and to guage the strength of the local defenses," said Kiske Urahara as he walked down the street toward us.

"How long have you been there?" asked Sloth.

"I headed out when I saw that the attack near Ichigo's house was a diversion," said Kiske. "By the time I got here, you had things pretty well wrapped up."

"I just wish I knew where these guys stood relative to the rest of Aizen's army," I said. "If they're typical of his fores, we'll probably be okay."

"I wouldn't get my hopes up," said Kiske. "Grand Fisher wasn't even at Menos level before becoming an arancar. We know Aizen's forces include at least Gilleon level Menos, and intelligence indicates he's been actively trying to recruit Vasto Lordes."

"Gilleon? Vasto Lordes? What are you guys even talking about? What's going on?!" yelled Kon.

"I'm so glad you asked," said Kiske, gleefully pulling out a sketchbook.

"This is going to be long," I said. "We should head home."

"No way," said Sloth. "I'm not the one who ate that soul reaper library. I need to hear this as much as Kon does."

"As you're already aware," began Kiske, "hollows are born when a normal human soul undergoes encroachment. Their chain of fate erodes away to nothing, and they lose their heart, hence the hole in their chests. Hollows suffer an insatiable hunger for human souls, especially those with high spirit energy.

"Once a hollow becomes powerful enough, ordinary human souls no longer satisfy it and it starts to feed on other hollows. The result is a Gilleon level Menos Grande, like the one Ichigo fought not too far from here. Gilleons all look exactly the same, and due to all the souls inside fighting for dominance, they exhibit only animal level intelligence.

"If one of those souls is able to attain dominance, the Gilleon transforms into the next level of Menos, the Adhuchas. Adhuachas are just as powerful as Gilleons in a smaller, more mobile package. They possess human level intelligence, as well as unique appearances and abilities.

"Above the Adhuahas are the Vasto Lordes, equal in size to humans, intelligent, and with a level of power above that of the soul reaper captains."

"And if becoming an aracnar boosts an ordinary hollow this much," I said, "a Vasto Lorde arancar would be a terror."

"Fortunately, in Hueco Mundo, Vasto Lordes are incredibly rare," said Kiske. "The process of moving from Adhuchas to Vasto Lorde isn't well understood, except possibly by the Vasto Lordes themselves. More often, an Adhucha will fall back to Gilleon level. This can happen if for whatever reason, the Adhucha stops feeding on other hollows for an extended period of time. An Adhucha who falls back to Gilleon level can never recover and be an Adhucha again."

"I don't know whether to be comforted or depressed," said Sloth. "Losing your individuality all over again afer you've regained it sounds horrifying."

"What little the Soul Society's been able to learn about the Vasto Lordes suggests they don't have the same risk of backsliding," said Kiske. "They can continue to grow more powerful by consuming souls, but the urgency of the situation goes away."

"If Aizen is testing the defenses here, that suggests he has some objective he wants to accomplish here," I said. "If he's planning on going after your hogyoku again, he'll be sorely disappointed. Could he be after something else?"

"Without more information on his ultimate goal, it's impossible to say what he might be after in Karakura Town," said Kiske. "All we can really do is hold our ground against his scouts until we know more."

* * *

The next day, at the start of school, Shinji Hirako, a blonde young man with a toothy smile and a paige boy haircut caused an incident by grabbing Orihime from behind in a far too familiar hug. Shinji was a new transfer student, having been introduced to the class the previous day. Tatski, who usually handled beating up Orihime's sexual harassers, hadn't arrived yet, so Keigo and, ironically, Chizuru stepped up to make him back off. Before they could do him violence, Ichigo intervened, grabbing Shinji by his collar and dragging him out of the classroom.

When Ichigo returned, he was the one who looked distressed and disturbed. Shinji looked, at most, amused, though he didn't make any further advances on Orihime. Ichigo brushed off questions about what was bothering him.

As this wasn't the day for occlumency lessons, neither Sloth nor I had our souls in. We waited until lunch to tell Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Keigo, and Tatski about our encounter with the arancars the previous night. While apologizing for not having been there to help, Ichigo glared at Shinji. Ichigo excused himself and walked away before we had a chance to question him about that.

"Do you think Shinji's the new soul reaper assigned to Karakura Town adn Ichigo's upset Rukia hasn't come back?" suggested Sloth.

"No," said Uryu. "I don't sense any spiritual pressure from him."

"It's definitely something Shinji said to him that's got Ichigo upset," said Tatski. "I saw them talking when I came in this morning. I didn't hear what they were saying, but it looked like Ichigo started off threatening Shinji, but by the end of it, Ichigo was the one who looked worried and afraid."

"Let's find out what's bothering Ichigo," suggested Chad. "If Ichigo won't tell us, we'll make Shinji."

* * *

Shinji wasn't hard to track. Sloth and I reintegrated with our souls as we walked out the door, and from that point, Orihime, chad, Uryu, Tatski, and Keigo casually strolled with us in the direction Shinji had gone.

Once we were away from most people, the seven of us rounded a corner and found Shinji being yelled at and slapped around by a girl with dirty blond hair done up in pigtails, freckles, and a bit of a snaggletooth. She wore a wrinkled red track suit and flip flops, one of which she'd taken off and was using to smack Shinji around. More concerning was the sword on her back that had the style of a sealed zanpakto. I couldn't' sense any spirit energy from either of them, but there were ways of hiding one's spirit energy.

On seeing us, both stood up and kept eyes on us. The girl motioned for Shinji to come closer as she eyed us with suspicion. When he leaned close, she headbutted him.

"Why was someone following you, you dipstick?" yelled the girl.

Orihime spoke for our party. "I knew, even if I asked him directly, Ichigo wouldn't tell me what was going on. He'd tell me it was nothing to be concerned about, but that's not true. So I thought I'd ask you, Shinji. Who are you? And what do you want with Ichigo?"

"Huh, you've got some nerve," said the girl while Shjinji nursed his hurt nose. "You think you can just ask and we'll tell everything you want to know."

She stared us down for a long moment, thinking through her options. She had no defense against legilimencey so staring us down left her an open book. She and Shinji were part of a group called the Visoreds, soul reapers who'd attained hollow powers. They knew about Ichigo's situation and wanted to recruit him, The plan was to offer him help controlling his inner hollow in exchange for getting his help against their enemies.

"I'm Hyori Srugaki," she said at length. "Don't make me repeat it. All right. I told you my name. Now it's your turn. Tell me yours."

While we handled introductions, I dug deeper. The Visoreds were the eight captains and lieutenants Kiske had saved from Aizen's hollowfication experiments. They held a grudge against Aizen and the Soul Society though it was Aizen they were focused on at the moment.

Some small talk took place, during which Hyori ended up breaking Shinji's nose properly in response to a snide comment or three. Despite him just taking it and letting her do the talking, Shinji was the unofficial leader of the Visored.

Shinji had let himself be followed in the hope that we'd be able to talk to Ichigo on their behalf. What he didn't realize was that Hyori hadn't picked up on his plan. She hadn't done the introductions to be friendly. She was adhering to a soul reaper tradition of introducing yourself to those you're about to kill. It was only when she actually reached for her zanpakto when he realized.

"Anyway, I'm afraid that I can't answer any of your questions," said Hyori. "In fact, I think we'll be better off if I just kill you."

Even without most of my spirit energy sealed it was questionable if I'd have the reflexes to respond to Hyori's attack. Fortunately, I didn't have to rely on my reflexes. Sifting through Hyori's thoughts, I knew what she intended before she reached for her sword, so I could respond to her attack before she started to move.

I stomped my foot and transmuted pipes, buried cables, and trace elements in the soil beneath the concrete street into a hundred sword blades, each sharpened to an edge a few molecules thick and reinforced with carbon nanostructures. Spirit energy could radically reinforce one's durability and resistance to damage, but there was a limit, and these were sharp enough and strong enough to harm even a captain. A burst of blue alchemic light accompanied the blades bursting out of the ground, their tips positioned fractions of an inch form various vulnerable parts on Hyori's and Shinji's bodies. If they moved, they'd be cut.

"No one's dying today," I said firmly.

A trickle of blood ran down Hyori's wrist as she made a small movement and the blade near her sword hand bit into her skin.

"Hyori, don't move!" ordered Shinji, forcing himself to analyze the threat instead of giving in to panic. "If you charge at them, you'll be cut to ribbons."

"I don't need you to tell me what I can and can't handle!" yelled Hyori.

Spirit energy gathered near Hyori's face and formed a mask made of what looked like white bone with red markings. The white of her eyes turned black, and her irises turned yellow. Uryu drew his bow as Hyori's hollow mask formed, but he needn't have bothered. Hyori ignored the pain as she tried to rush at us, but ignoring pain doesn't prevent damage. Her hand cut off as she tried to draw her sword. Blades impaled her through the belly as she tried to rush forward. Her jugular vein opened thanks to a sword near her throat. Hyori didn't want to stop, but her injuries forced her to stop.

"Hyori!" called out Shinji in concern as the girl's mask shattered and she slumped over, supported only by the blades stabbing through her.

"Did she just kill herself trying to kill us?" asked Keigo in horror.

"I can still heal her," said Orihime.

I nodded and transmuted away the blades around Hyori, leaving the ones around Shinji intact. Then I tossed her zanpakto to Sloth before slapping spirit energy sealing manacles on her. That done, I stepped out of the way and let Orihime's two healing rika form a golden, oval shaped shield around Hyori. Everyone watched as Hyori's injuries disappeared.

"Hyori, are you okay?" called out Shinji when Orihime was done.

"Shinji, what happened?" asked Hyori. As she did, Chad picked her up off the ground and restrained her.

"You charged in like a dumbass and got cut to ribons just like Itodl you would happen!" yelled Shinji.

"Who're you calling a dumbass, dumbass?" Hyori yelled back. Without her spirit energy, she struggled futily against Chad's strength.

"I can't believe someone could be so stupid that they'd rush straight through a nest of swords," said Keigo.

"Keigo-" Chad tried to warn him, but he was too late.

Taunting Hyori, Keigo'd gotten too close, and Hyori landed a hard kick to his crotch. Chad pulled Hyori out of range as Keigo crumpled to the ground in the fetal position crying. Ignoring Keigo, Tatski addressed Shinji.

"Explain what you want with our friend."

"You saw what Hyori did when she put on that hollow mask," said Shinji. "Your friend Ichigo can do it too. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to control it. Without our help, he'll be lost to the hollow inside him, and like any hollow, he'll start by killing everyone he used to care about."

"Shinji, what are you doing?" demanded Hyori.

"Hyori, shut up!" ordered Shinji. "How did you think recruiting Ichigo was going to go if you killed all his friends? How was that going to help anything?"

"Shinji's telling the truth," said Sloth. "They are here to help Ichigo control his powers."

"And what do you get out of it?" asked Uryu without lowering his bow.

"There's a ware coming," said Shinji. "It's been in the making for years, but now that Soske Aizen knows how to complete his hogyoku, we're going to need all the allies we can get."

"How do you know about the hogyoku?" asked Uryu suspiciously.

"Urahara told them," I said. "He's also the one who told them about Ichigo's hollowfication. He helped stabilize them a hundred years ago, and he knew they were the only ones who could help Ichigo control his hollowfication."

"That mind reading ability of yours is useful," said Chad.

"Are they really the only ones who can help Ichigo?" asked Orihime.

"Unless he wants to go to Aizen for help," I confirmed, transmuting away the blades holding Shinji.

"We'll talk to Ichigo," said Tatski.

"And I'll have a chat with Hyori about not killing our potential allies," said Shinji, taking Hyori over his shoulder.

"Ichigo'll bring her zanpakto back if he decides to accept your offer," said Sloth.

"When I get loos, I'm coming for you to take it back," said Hyori.

"No you won't," said Shinji in a bored tone. "Come on. I'll untie you when we get back to base."

Shinji flash stepped away with Hyori. Keigo managed to pick himself up off the ground. There was no permanent damage, so he went to walk it off. Sloth and I apparated back to the mansion to put Hyori's zanpakto away for safe keeping.

* * *

"All eight of the hollowfied captains and lieutenants Kiske saved are alive and in control of themselves," I said with a giddy grin as I locked Hyori's zanpakto away.

"Sounds like whatever method they've figured out works well," said Sloth. "Hyori may have looked like she lost control when her mask came on, but that was still her in the drivers seat. She was kicking herself after she was tied up for just charging straight ahead instead of shooting a cero to destroy the swords first."

"They can use ceros?" I asked. "I focused on Shinji after we tied her up."

"Apparently," said Sloth.

"Normal hollows can't use ceros. That technique is Menos level and above."

"I guess visoreds aren't normal hollows," said Sloth.

"Depending on what's involved- Something big just showed up!"

The spiritual pressure was similar to the blend of soul reaper and hollow I'd felt form the arancars the previous night, but much stronger. A quick glance at the foelgass on our nightstand told us who this must be.

"Ulquiora and Yami," I said. "Espadas number 4 and number 10 respectively. Aizen's sent in the big guns."

"Can you tell where they are?" asked Sloth.

"They showed up in a park not far from here," I said. "Espada call for full power right out of the gate. Kaien made that much very clear in his reports. Gentai Kaijo!"

The power limiting tattoo removed, I switched off the limiter on my substitute badge ad I used it to expel my soul reaper self from my homunculus body. Soul reaper me tossed homunculus me my zanpakto, then merged back in. I released my shikai and wrapped a length of chain around each wrist. Sloth and I both drank our combat enhancing potions, then joined hands.

"Attack the weak link first," I said. "We focus everything we've got on Yami until he's dead. They we move on to Ulquiora."

"Right," said sloth, nodding. She'd transformed while I'd prepared and was holding a yo-yo in her free hand.

Turning on the spot, I apparated us to the park Ulquiora and Yami had arrived in. The two arancars were climbing out of a crater. Ulquiora was pale and slender with his hollow hole unusually high in his chest and a horned mask fragment that looked like a helmet. Yami was a little too big to be completely human, with tanned skin, a heavy musculature, and a mask fragment framing his lower jaw.

We arrived just in time to see Yami purse his lips and begin to suck. The souls of the people nearby who couldn't see the arancars but were crowding to examine the crater dislodged from their bodies and were pulled into the arancar's mouth.

Sloth threw her yo-yo, striking Yami's face hard and forcing his jaw to snap shut, putting a stop to his soul sucking. Unfortunately, that's all it did. Yami was uninjured, and Sloth's yo-yo had splintered from the impact against Yami's hiero, the layer of dense spiritual pressure on an arancar's skin which served as armor.

"You little brat-" started Yami.

He didn't get to finish his thought before I raised my right hand, a flame alchemy array appeared on the back of my palm, and I snapped my fingers. The air inside his mouth and nostrils, as well as inside the hollow hole in the middle of his chest transmuted into an unstable nitrogen based explosive that detonated with more than enough force to make a human skull explode. As it was, Yami's hiero meant the explosion was fully contained, channeling the shock wave deeper into the arancar's sinuses and lungs. Yami's eyes popped, and smoke billowed out from his mouth and nostrils carrying the scent of burnt meat as he collapsed to the ground.

Ulquiora looked down at his fallen comrade and said, "I can't believe you went down that easy. The girl you were focusing so much attention on doesn't even have any spirit energy."

"Don't count me out just yet," said Sloth. "My powers just take a little calibration is all."

Ulquiora caught Sloth's next yo-yo with contemptuous ease, then he soinidoed a foot to the left to keep me from using the same alchemy trick I'd used on Yami.

"Greed! Sloth!" called out Orihime as she and chad rushed onto the scene. "Oh my God, Tatski!"

I glanced own, and sure enough, Tatski was one of the people lying on the ground after Yami'd sucked out everyone's souls. Taking my eye off my opponent cost me. Ulquiora thrust his hand through my chest, tearing a hole right through a spot corresponding to the location of his hollow hole. If I hadn't been in my homunculus body, that would've been a fatal blow. As it was, there was enough vital structure in terms of muscle and spine torn out that I was barely able to stand upright, and that only because my spirit energy was bolstering me.

Sloth had my back, striking Ulquiora from behind with a birage of yo-yo strikes to the back, each twice as strong as the one before it. Ulquiora was knocked to his knees by one of the later hits and used soinido to get some distance and take to the air. Chad fired an energy blast at hte arancar, which he didn't even bother to dodge.

Orihime's healing shield was in place over Tatski, but her eyes were focused on Ulquiora. She raised her hands and called out, "Tsubaki, Koten Zanshun, I reject!"

The single rika from Orihime's hairpins that represented her attacking power flew at Ulquiora. The arancar caught the small creature out of the air and crushed its body to dust contemptuously.

A dozen blue quincy arrows that Ulquiora dodged announced Uryu's entrance into the battle. Ulquiora dodged directly into Ichigo, who was already in bankai with his sword raised to strike. Unfortunately, Ichigo froze and Ulquiora smacked Ichigo to the ground hard enough to leave a shallow impact crater of his own.

Ulquiora's mind was shielded from my legilimency, so I was forced to rely on conventional means of predicting his actions. Fully regenerated, I flash stepped behind him and swung a length of chain for his neck. The chainsaw action of the loose chain length was intended to take off his head in a single blow. I didn't think he'd expected me to recover and counterattack after the injuries he dealt me, but his reflexes let him get his arm up in the way.

As I'd hoped, my chainsaw technique was enough to cut through his hiero, but severing his arm slowed my swing, allowing him to soinido to a safe distance with his head intact. Worse, his severed arm regenerated.

"I think I'm calibrated now," said Sloth, leaping into the air behind Ulquiora. "Let's see if you can grow a new head!"

The yo-yo Sloth threw had a disc of crimson light pouring from between the discs like a circular saw. It was going far too fast for Ulquiora to dodge with his soinido. He turned in time to see it coming and raised a finger of his newly regenerated hand.

"Bala," he said, and a bright green blast of light struck the yo-yo, obliterating it.

Bala was a variant on the cero. It was weaker, but much faster, requiring none of the charge up time a full cero needs. Ulquiora took the time he needed, charging a full cero while using soinido to get into point blank range.

"Cero," declared Ulquiora as he released the bright green blast in Sloth's face.

Layer after layer of shield spells sprang up from the protective transparent shell over Sloth's Soul Gem, each giving way like layers of ablative armor. When the blast finished, her entire body except for her head had been blasted away to nothing.

Ichigo forced himself upright, raised his sword in preparation to fire a blast at the arancar, but suddenly froze again, grabbing at his face with his free hand. Ulquiora turned his gaze toward me and soinidoed into melee range, drawing his sword as he moved.

"Protego!" I called out, blocking his sword with my spell before I counterattacked with another attempt with my chainsaw whip technique. Ulquiora got his zanpakto up in time to block, its durability proving stronger than his hiero had been.

I was faster and stronger than the arancar, and the importance of not giving him any openings had just been emphasized. He knew getting in close had been a mistake, but I kept the pressure on him, matching soinido with flash step to keep him engaged.

Sloth was fully regenerated, and she screamed in a rage I'd rarely heard from her. Her body was enveloped in a burning crimson aura, and she leapt into the melee so fast Ulquiora and I might have been standing still. Flying straight at the arancar, Sloth put her fist through his head. High speed regeneration wouldn't help you recover when your brain's just been destroyed. Ulquiora's corpse dropped to the ground just as Yoruichi and Kiske flash stepped onto the scene.

Sloth's crimson aura faded and her body fell limp as she collapsed into my arms crying. Her Soul Gem was at less than a quarter. She'd been careful about her energy usage in the early parts of the fight, which meant she'd used anywhere from half to three quarters of her magic on the single attack that had killed Ulquiora. Worse was what she said next.

"I'm so stupid! All of my Grief Seeds were in that utility belt he blew up with my body! Every single one! Why didn't I leave some at home in case something like this happened?"

"What happened here?" asked Yoruichi. She was in her human form and had arrived ready to fight. Kiske already had his sword released. He was checking the corpses of the fallen arancars.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Both sides took some losses here. Our heroes lost the Grief Seeds and some of the element of surprise for their abilities thanks to Aizen's surveillance bugs. Aizen lost Ulquiora, possibly the only Espada in his entire roster who actually knows how to follow orders. This will force him to lean more heavily on his fellow soul reaper defectors until he can recover from that loss.


	35. Chapter 40: Accepting the Visoreds' Offe

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 40) Accepting the Visoreds' Offer  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

We'd defeated two of Aizen's espada. Neither had been given a chance to release their zanpakto, so it remained uncertain where we stood in terms of Aizen's remaining forces. Each arancar had been carrying a small black cube which could be used to trap an enemy in a pocket dimension called a Caja Negaccion. Kiske took them for analysis to determine if they could be duplicated or if a defense could be devised.

Orihime was able to revive everyone who'd had their souls sucked out by Yami and clean Sloth's Soul Gem of corruption. Sloth in turn revived Tsubake, the attack focused rika Ulquiora had destroyed, when Orihime couldn't do it on her own.

Ichigo had frozen up due to conflict with his inner hollow. It was becoming clear he was fighting a losing battle. He needed the Visords' help. Having proven unable to help at all in the fight left him more open to being convinced to accept help. I apparated home, grabbed Hyori's zanpakto, then apparated back, handing it to Ichigo.

Kiske and Yoruichi went back to the shop. The rest of us, Tatski included, followed Ichigo to a warehouse. Spirit energy that was a mix of soul reaper and hollow poured off the building in waves. Given that Shinji and Hyori had no trouble hiding their spirit energy, this was almost certainly a deliberate beacon.

As Ichigo approached the building, the rest of us bumped into an invisible force field. It was possible to design a barrier that responded to certain magical markers to allow only certain people to pass. The Death Eaters had used such barriers keyed to the Dark Mark. Given how few soul reapers with hollow powers there were, it'd be a pretty good marker to key off.

"I think I can get us through," said Orihime, probing at the barrier with her fingertips.

Ichigo waited while the three rika that formed Orihime's defensive shield appeared and positioned themselves against the barrier. Orihime focused and the barrier was briefly illuminated in orange before a hole appeared between her three rika. We stepped through the barrier to join Ichigo.

"That was amazing, Orihime," said Chad.

"I'll say," I agreed. "The last time I ran into a barrier like that, it would've taken longer to take it down than just waiting for it to fade on its own."

"Well, you know, I've been practicing," said Orihime, slightly embarrassed at the praise. The rika returned to Orihime's hairpins, allowing the barrier to close behind us.

On entering the warehouse, we found several of the interior floors had either collapsed or been partly demolished. All eight Visoreds were arranged across three floors above us, looking down. They'd clearly sensed us coming and gotten into position.

"Hyori," called Ichigo, holding up her sword by the middle of its sheath, "I brought your zanpakto back."

"I take it this means you've decided to join us, Ichigo," said Shinji.

"Shut up," said Ichigo. "I didn't come her to join your stupid club! I came here so you could help me control my inner hollow. I'm not going to let you hold that over my head so you can make me do what you want me to do. You can teach me what I need to know with no strings attached, or I can force you to teach me."

"You think you can?" asked Shinji. "Not to put too fine a point on it, but there are more of us than there are of you, and only a couple of the friends you brought are strong enough to make any difference at all. The others will just be a liability for you to protect."

Tatski fired her kido gun, sending a shot past Shinji's head and blasting a massive hole in the ceiling. Recognizing the power behind the kido blast from Tatski's rifle was enough to injure or kill a soul reaper captain, Shinji's eyes went wide. Tatski smirked.

"I take it I'm one of those liabilities you mentioned," she said.

"We aren't here to hurt anyone," I said, "but we're backing Ichigo no matter what."

Hyori jumped down from her perch and took her zanpakto from Ichigo. "Let's see if you're even strong enough to be worth teaching," she said, drawing her sword.

"Fine by me," said Ichigo, expelling his soul with his combat pass. I'd shut down the surveillance in both badges before we came.

Ichigo and Hyori flash stepped into the air and started to fight. The other Visoreds were watching the battle intently. Hyori put on her mask and demanded Ichigo do the same. When Ichigo refused, Hyori threatened to beat the hollow out of him and renewed her attacks with increased speed and power. The power up she got from her mask was considerable. Quantifying it right this second would be tricky, but it was more than enough to overwhelm Ichigo's defenses.

Then she got what she was looking for. Ichigo snapped and hollowfied. His eyes turned black and gold and he rushed Hyori with overwhelming speed. He was choking the life out of her with one hand and poised to impale her with his zanpakto, wearing the same mad grin I'd seen during his fight with Dalk before his mask had fully formed. The other Visoreds had been watching for this and flash stepped into the battle, wrestling Ichigo to the ground in an instant with swords pointed at his face, throat, heart, and other vital areas. In turn, Shinji had a quincy arrow inches from the back of his head with Uryu's bow ready to loose at the slightest wrong movement. My zanpakto had its blade gently resting against the neck of a muscular Visored with a military haircut and Sloth had a yo-yo spinning dangerously quickly behind the head of a Visored with long wavy brown hair. The way she held the string, she'd only have to twitch her thumb to release it and send it into his skull.

Chad, Tatski, and Orihime didn't have the speed to respond to that, but all three took aim as soon as their eyes caught up. No one dared make a move until Shinji cracked Ichigo's mask with the tip of his zanpakto. Ichigo was back in control of himself and relaxed, which let the Visoreds relax, which let us relax. Our two groups separated out to opposite sides of an invisible line centered on Ichigo.

"You've seen that you can't suppress your hollow with willpower," said Shinji. "You can't hold it back using your body either. We'll train you to control it. I think after that, even Hyori's convinced."

Hyori was rubbing her injured throat and working to normalize her breathing. She was in no condition to gainsay Shinji, and my legilimency told me he was right. She'd never admit it, but she was impressed with how much power Ichigo'd displayed after hollowfying. I decided not to mention that the power limiter on his substitute badge was still turned on.

With their agreement and Sloth and I able to verify their good intentions, we made a round of introductions. I left a surveillance bug to monitor and record Ichigo's training when the rest of us left. I'd modified the bug with some tech from Mayuri's database to ensure not only would I get full audio and visual of beings in spirit form, but I'd be able to record and analyze spirit energy emissions to give me a better idea what was happening under the surface.

* * *

Once we were out past the barrier, Chad turned to me and said, "I want you to train me."

"In anything in particular?" I asked.

"When we invaded the Soul Society together, you had a lot of tricks you used to make up for the low level of spirit energy you were able to attain," said Chad.

"Those tricks were the result of seven years of formal magical education," I said. "I've got textbooks and I'm willing to teach, but it isn't a quick process."

"I lasted longer than you did when we fought Captain Kyoraku," said Chad. "Between that fight and our fight with the bounts, your raw power grew so much I can't even contribute in battle by comparison. I need to get stronger so I can fight alongside all of you again."

"I don't really understand how your powers work," I said. "Your's or Orihime's. I can help you build up your raw spirit energy, but you don't use it the same way soul reapers do."

"It sounds to me like this is a chance to study his powers," said Sloth. "My powers were a total mystery not long ago and I killed Aizen's number 4 espada."

"Please," said Chad.

I nodded. "We'll train at the mansion."

"Um..." began Orihime, hesitating.

"You don't want to train with them," said Sloth. "You deserve the same one on one focus Chad's getting. I'll work with you to help build up your spirit energy and test the limits of your powers. Us magical girls ought to stick together."

"Are you two still coming to train with my grandfather?" asked Uryu.

Sloth nodded and held up her pocket watch saying, "We'll make time."

"I guess I'll see you at school," said Tatski.

* * *

The next day was eventful. Ichigo came to school and reported that his inner hollow was under control and that the Visoreds were now teaching him to use his new powers voluntarily. He had a lot to learn, but the most important part was over. He was fully in control of his own soul again.

As usual, Sloth and I trained ourselves during school hours. After school, we trained others. Our homunculus selves continued with Tatski and Keigo's alchemy lessons. Sloth's magical girl self took Orihime out for training leaving soul reaper me alone with Chad at the mansion.

"Okay, Chad, I increased my spirit energy as fast as I did by killing myself over and over again," I said. "Without Grief Seeds, that isn't a viable training method, and Aizen's arancar destroyed our stock."

"Can you get more?" he asked.

"I tried time turning and taking them out of her belt, but she checked them right before leaving for the battle. There are more in the world we got them from originally, but we left a powerful enemy there last time and neither of us can risk going back there until we're strong enough to deal with him."

"How strong is this enemy?" asked Chad.

"It's still hard to wrap my head around," I admitted. "It's billions of years old and exists as a distributed consciousness across multiple star systems. Its knowledge and powers let it use girls like Sloth to turn back the clock on the entire universe."

"I can see why you've pushed yourself so hard," said Chad.

"Orihime's powers did something that should have taken an apocalypse's worth of power to do when she turned Sloth's Grief Seed back into a Soul Gem. I'm hoping to learn enough in this world to let me do something about him."

"Do you think studying my powers would help?"

"I don't know. Let's find out. First, we'll establish a baseline so we can track your improvement and give me data to go over. Then we'll get you out of your body."

"Out of my body?" asked Chad nervously.

"We have to put your soul in danger of destruction to get your spirit energy to grow. While your soul is inside your body, all we can endanger is your life which doesn't help your spiritual growth at all. Don't worry. We'll leave your chain of fate intact so you don't actually die."

"I understand. Let's get started."

I tried several different methods to push Chad's growth. Sparring, poisoning, extreme exertion. By pushing him until he collapsed, healing him, restoring his spirit energy, and doing it all over again, he was having noticeable growth. Meanwhile, gathered a lot of data on his powers.

After Chad went home, I went over the data and used a remote link to the database in Rukon University to compare his readings against Mayuri's data. Unlike with Orihime's powers, Chad's had a match. I pulled down copies of that data so I could share it with Chad the next day.

Sloth came in while I was reading through the data on Chad's power, which was apparently called fullbring. She was so conflicted that Loki picked up on it, got up from where he was lying at my feet, and put his head down in Sloth's lap. I closed my file and turned to face her.

"I-" she started. "A lot happened today. Nothing bad... not exactly. I was excited to tell you at first..."

"Take a deep breath," I suggested. "Start at the beginning."

Sloth inhaled deeply and let out a long sigh. "Okay. I was working with Orihime to test her powers. She's absolutely amazing. Her shield took everything I could throw at it. I broke the shield a bunch of times, but it always stopped my attack dead in its tracks before it broke. I don't know if she even has an upper limit."

"Impressive," I said. "I'd've showed more enthusiasm, but Sloth's manner had me waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"We tested some new tricks with her healing shield too," said Sloth. "It turns out if you cut an object in half, she can heal both halfs, effectively duplicating something. We did some tests before I had her try this."

Sloth opened her hands, revealing each was holding a separate copy of the magical false eye that had once belonged to the famed auror Alistor Moody. Handing them to me, Sloth said, "They both work. I want to take her with us to see Soken. She should be able to duplicate that quincy bangle."

"If Uryu saved any bits of his glove, she should be able to restore and duplicate that too," I said.

"Then Hyori showed up," said Sloth, her tone carefully neutral. "Hadji, the half-giant Visored with the pink hair, wanted to talk to Orihime. It turns out they both use similar barriers. He even has a space time reversion kido that works just like Orihime's healing shield, Soul Gem cleansing, item duplication, and all."

"A kido?" I said, perking up. "That's exactly what we were looking for. Is he willing to teach it?"

"He is," said Sloth, still carefully neutral, "but there's a catch. He designed the spell after becoming a Visored. An ordinary soul reaper couldn't learn it since it draws on his dual natured spirit energy."

"I'd have to undergo hollowfication to learn it," I concluded.

"You don't have to do it," said Sloth quickly. "No one knows better than me what losing yourself to an inner demon of negative emotions is like. I don't want you to feel like you have to risk that for me."

"You know I was considering hollowfication before you learned about Hadji's kido," I said. "I love you, but this isn't all about you. I was only stronger than that arancar because I was in my homunculus body. If I'd had to face him in soul reaper form, in a spirit world, he'd have crushed me like I was nothing."

"I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but like Kiske said, there's no turning back from this decision," said Sloth. "Ichigo's been under Orihime's healing shield plenty of times, and it didn't reverse his hollowfication."

"The Visoreds' method for getting control looks solid," I said. "Nine subjects and a 100% success rate is way better than I've had previous times I've experimented on myself."

"Hard to turn down the promise of more power and still call yourself Greed, huh?"

"I have a contingency," I said. "Same one you have if you turn into a witch with no one around to reverse it. If I turn into a hollow, homunculus me can always kill hollow me and start over with a spare soul."

Sloth smiled. "So you can go back after all."

"I'm greedy, not stupid," I said with a smirk.

"You are going to make the best Visored ever," said Sloth, coming over to hug me.

* * *

I sat cross legged on the balcony with my shiethed zanpakto laid across my lap. My eyes were closed and my focus was directed inward. Sloth's discovery and Ichigo's success dispelled any misgivings or hesitation I had about hollowfication, but I wasn't the only one who would be effected by this choice, and I needed to make sure we were on the same page before taking the irreversible step of seeing Kiske about using the hogyoku.

Meditating into a deep trance, I found myself in my inner world. Rows of bookshelves spread out as far as the eye could see. The Gate loomed, an immovable feature in my soul. I didn't have to search long to find who I was looking for.

Tsumi no Rensa, the spirit of my zanpakto, had been born from my soul when I first attained soul reaper powers. Here, in my inner world, he had the appearance of a muscular, dark skinned man with hair just like mine, wearing black pleated pants, a black vest, and loops of thick chain around his wrists, waist, and forehead. Usually when I encountered him here, he was reading. Today, he was standing on top of a bookshelf staring across the world within me.

"I was happy when you wielded me against that espada," he said without looking at me when I hopped up on the shelf to join him. "You had so many powers to choose from, and you decided mine were the ones best suited to besting a powerful opponent."

"I don't blame you for us losing the Grief Seeds," I said. "We were kicking Ulquiora's ass. Your powers synergized so well with my homunculus strength you'd never know they had different sources."

Tsumi no Rensa looked up at the Gate and said, "I'm not your first power. And I know that as time goes on, you'll seek to add more powers to your arsenal. Whether you undergo hollowfication or not, you're going to look into acquiring fullbring. If those bangles duplicate properly, you'll be seeking to master their power. Who knows what options you'll have for increasing your strength when the time comes to leave this world and explore a new one?"

"I didn't throw away my alchemy when I got you," I said. "We're as strong as we are because my new powers work side by side with my old ones. Whatever happens down the line, I can't see myself shoving you to the back of my soul and ignoring you."

"I want you to get stronger," said my sword. "I don't begrudge you seeking new power wherever you can, even hollowfication. I just want you to remember you haven't yet reached the limits of what power I have to offer."

"You're talking about bankai," I said.

"Ten years of training in order to master forced manifestation, then once you can draw me into the outside world, overpower me and achieve the final release," said the zanpakto spirit. "Without focused effort, with your attention divided mastering one power after another, I fear you'll never reach bankai."

"Space time reversion kido is more important to me than bankai," I said. "That said, you're right that I need to dedicate time regularly if I'm ever going to achieve bankai. I'll tell you what. After I master space time reversion, I'll get started on bankai training. An hour a day no matter what other abilities I'm working on."

"I promise you, my bankai will be worth every moment you spend achieving it."

"I know it will," I said, patting Tsumi no Rensa on the shoulder before I willed myself out of my meditative trance. Now that I had my sword's consent, I could speak to Kiske without reservations.

* * *

While our homunculus selves attended our usual classes, in addition to taking over our scheduled training session with Soken, Sloth and I went to Urahara's shop in spirit form. Without our souls, our homunculus selves would be limited in what they could learn, but the details of how to forge soul synthesized silver and glass could be communicated just as easily to our homunculus selves as it could be to our spiritual selves. I'd been looking forward to learning that one anyway.

Tessai was manning the front counter at the shop when we arrived. Kiske'd been up late working on the arancar's equipment and was still in bed. The two of us settled in to wait for him to get up. While we waited, Yoruichi came by in her at form.

"What brings you two to the shop this early?" she asked.

"I asked Kiske to keep an option open for me," I said. "I decided it was time to take that option."

"Kiske told me about that," said Yoruichi. "It's your decision. I just hope you've thought this through."

"I have," I said.

"Well, then, I won't dwell on it," said Yoruichi. "Kiske also mentioned you'd picked up a new trick."

I smiled and adopted my animagus form. I remained in the form of a large brown spider for a few moments, spinning in a circle so Yoruichi could get a good look. Then I resumed human form.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you," I said. "How do you talk in cat form?"

Yoruichi gave me an exadurated stretch and said, "Cats actually have quite an impressive vocal range. And I have been using this form almost exclusively for the past hundred years."

"I guess we're stuck using telepathy to communicate while you're a spider," said Sloth.

"I don't know," I said. "My mouth parts can't handle human languages, but maybe with time and effort, I'll be able to use parseltongue in that form."

"Are we having a party?" asked Kiske, yawning as he came out from the back of the shop.

"I want to undergo hollowfication," I said.

"I take it this has something to do with the fight against those two arancars the other day," said Kiske.

"Some," I admitted. "Mostly it has to do with Ichigo and all eight of the survivors of Aizen's hollowfication experiment getting control. That's better odds than I had when I stabbed myself through the heart to get soul reaper powers."

"I'd like to emphasize the word 'survivors'," said Kiske. "Most of Aizen's test subjects succumbed to soul suicide, when the barrier between their souls and the outside world broke down. The ones I was able to stabilize all had high levels of spiritual power, lieutenant level or above, but there's no guarantee there aren't other factors. Volunteers have been scarce as you might imagine."

"That's why I'm here," said Sloth. "My powers might be able to heal him if something goes wrong."

"Well, then, let's get started," said Kiske cheerfully.

The exiled scientist led us down to his underground training area. At Kiske's instructions, Tessai applied binding kido. These spells weren't the type you could shape shift out of. If I wanted to free myself, I'd need to break the spells. Once I was tied up securely, Kiske tapped his came on the ground and a deep hole opened up below me. I landed face first on the ground below. I was more startled than hurt.

"Was that necessary?" I yelled up.

"The pit's for our protection," said Kiske. "Having the high ground will make it easier for us if something goes wrong and we have to kill you."

"You could have put me in the pit before tying me up," I noted with annoyance.

Kiske snickered then went to retrieve the hogyoku. He and Tessai both leaned over the pit as Kiske removed the prismatic barrier from the orb.

"I've kept the hogyoku dormant inside its barrier for our safety," said Kiske. "Ordinarily, it would take about three months to fully awaken, but it can be awakened briefly by fusing it with someone possessing twice the level of spirit energy as a soul reaper captain, or in this case, using to captain level soul reapers at the same time. You might want to brace yourself. I'm given to understand this part hurts."

A bright light from the hogyoku filled the pit I was in. All at once, I experienced something I thought I'd left behind when I became a homunculus. Physical illness. A specific transmutation circle could force a homunculus to vomit up red stones, but that was the only thing it did.

I felt chills and body aches. I was having trouble breathing through sinus and chest congestion. My bowels gurgled threateningly and waves of nausea ran through me. I was lightheaded and broken out in a cold sweat.

In the back of my head, I knew what was going on. Hollow reshi is inherently hostile and tends to act like an infection. Soul reapers had antibodies that protect them under normal circumstances. My spiritual body was at war with itself on a cellular level as the different parts of my altered soul refused to recognize one another as part of the same being.

I sneezed, choked, and vomited all at once. The white fluid I'd expelled clung to my face and started to harden. As the mask formed, the pain lessened. I felt my body struggling against the binding spells holding me in place.

The sealing tattoo and the substitute badge severely limited the amount of spirit energy the entity could use against the bonds, even with the boost I could feel from my new hollow powers. The newborn inner hollow recognized it couldn't break the kido and screamed with a reverberating voice using my vocal cords, "Let me out!"

"The won't!" I screamed back, usurping my voice once again through force of will. "They'll let me go, but if you keep fighting me, they'll kill us both!"

The hollow continued to struggle. Recalling what I'd seen with Ichigo, I wrested control of my neck muscles from the hollow and started bashing my face against the ground. Between the physical strikes and mentally struggling with the hollow, the mask cracked and crumbled away. The hollow went silent and I was back in full control of my body. Aside from the muscles the hollow had strained trying to escape the binding kido, I felt pretty good.

"Okay, I think it's over," I called out.

"How do you feel?" called Sloth.

"It hurt less than having Mabashi unlock my powers did," I called back.

The binding kido released and I got to my feet. I applied a quick healing spell to my sore muscles and hopped out of the hole. Something had clearly messed with my sense of time, since Ururu and Jinta had both arrived while I was down there. Jinta was nursing a lump on his head.

"What happened to you?" I asked him.

"He tried to get together with Ururu and spit on you while you were down there," said Sloth. "I convinced him that was a poor choice."

"How long was I down there?" I asked.

"Less than twenty minutes," said Jinta. "Ichigo spent hours down there when hte boss was getting him ready to attack the Soul Society."

"The process took and I've applied the vaccine to stabilize you," said Kiske. "You aren't in any danger of soul suicide."

"Now I just need to make sure it can't take over my body," I said. "No time like the present. Thanks for your help."

* * *

Neither Sloth nor I could just walk through the barrier surrounding the Visoreds' warehouse. They'd obviously adjusted it since the last time I'd come. Without Orihime to open a hole, all we could do was let them know we were here and wait for them to open the barrier. Sloth's telepathy was more than adequate to knock on their door without knocking down their barrier.

"This is a first," said Love, a tall, broad shouldered Visored with curly hair styled in a star formation and wearing sunglasses. "In a hundred years, you're the first person I know who volunteered to become a Visored."

"To be fair, we haven't exactly been advertising," said Hadji, the heavyset pink haired half giant Visored who'd invented the spell I wanted to learn.

"How are we going to test him?" asked Hyori. "Ichigo smashed the Hyori Super Trainer."

"We don't need it," said Shinji. "The Soul Society went and made Greed here a captain. They had a falling out that ended with him banished from the Seireitei, but his spirit energy ought to be more than enough to handle the training."

"Should I have my limiters on or off for this?" I asked.

"Off," said Shinji. "You'll need your full power to survive the process of controlling your inner hollow."

I nodded, touched my substitute soul reaper combat pass to deactivate the power limiter, then said, "Gentai kaijo." The limiter tattoo on my chest responded to my command and glowed briefly before vanishing. I exerted my spiritual pressure once the limiters were off. Shinji nodded and stunned me unconscious with a kido spell.

I wasn't just unconscious. I was in my inner world, facing what looked like a negative image of myself. It had chalky white skin and hair, and wore a completely white version of my militia uniform. He had the black scelara and gold irises I'd seen on hollowfied soul reapers. There was no mask and no hole in his chest, but this was undoubtedly my inner hollow.

"What's your name?" I asked by way of greeting.

"Uh-uh," said the hollow. "I'm not as easy as your sword. You haven't even proved you have the right to reign over this soul, much less earned the right to know my name."

"Well, you're an arrogant little upstart, aren't you?" I said. "I was born with this soul. I kept it safe from dementors long before there was any spirit energy in it."

"I guess we'll find out if you've got what it takes," said the hollow and he rushed me.

I barely had time to draw my sword before he was on me. He didn't have a sword at his belt and instead he attacked hand to hand. He was fast and agile, quickly dropping below my guard and delivering a trio of hard punches to my stomach, driving the breath from my lungs. I was saved from his manic assault when a chain wrapped one of his legs and yanked him away. Tsumi no Rensa, the spirit of my zanpakto had come to back me up.

The hollow flared his spirit energy just as Tsumi no Rensa tried to constrict his wrapped leg with the chain. Instead of the leg severing, the chain broke. I caught my breath as the sword spirit addressed the hollow.

"You were invited to this place," said Tsumi no Rensa. "That makes you a guest. Act like one."

"A guest can move out if he likes," said the hollow. "If he dies, we both go with him. Don't you want to be sure the one making decisions for us has some kind of survival instinct?"

"Spoken like a typical hollow," said a fourth person who'd just arrived. He had pale skin, black hair, and a five o'clock shadow. He wore a black coat and a pair of tinted sunglasses. "All you are is a mass of instinctual urges even if you feign sapience."

"And you are?" I asked the man.

"Was not something extra added to your soul to correct the imbalance caused by adding him?" asked the man as he gestured toward the hollow.

"You're Urahara's vaccine," I guessed.

"You can all get to know each other better, after I assume control of our body," said the hollow. He rushed at the three of us, clearly intending to take us three on one.

"Sectumsempra!" I called out, slashing my sword in the hollow's direction. He anticipated it and ducked below the attempted decapitation strike. Tsumi no Rensa and I flash stepped to the top of nearby book cases. The hollow rushed the vaccine, who dodged repeated punches and kicks from the hollow with seemingly very little effort.

Tsumi no Rensa managed to wrap the hollow's arms while its attention was focused on the vaccine. At the same time, I nailed it with a full body binding curse. The vaccine moved out of range as the hollow's spirit energy flared, shattering my binding spell and the chains binding him both.

"You still don't understand," said the hollow. "You've seen how strong a hollow born from a soul with no detectable spirit energy can be. Well, I'm spawned from your soul, so apply that same jump. You don't stand a chance."

The hollow feinted then rushed at ninety degrees. He'd correctly predicted my movements, and I'd flash stepped right into his path after the feint. I recovered quickly and swept the charging hollow's legs out from under him. With him off balance, I brought my sword down, slashing his back before he rolled to his feet. He didn't look like he even felt the pain as he rushed inside my guard. Rather than fight on his terms, I pointed a finger at his chest and said, "Sho." The kido was a variation on the knock back jinx, and though it was the lowest numbered Hado spell, it did its job, impacting the hollow's chest and tossing him backward.

The hollow was back on his feet in an instant, but I'd managed to flash step out of range. Tsumi no Rensa swung at the hollow using my chainsaw whip technique. The hollow laughed.

"That technique has a flaw in it," declared the hollow, leaping at the sword spirit. He caught the rapidly retracting chain, and rather than being cut by it, let it pull him toward Tsumi no Rensa faster than he could react. The momentum allowed the hollow to land a kick to the sword spirit's face that resulted in a sickening cracking sound as Tsumi no Rensa's head snapped backward. "You can only retract it as fast as you can keep a grip on it. Anyone with a similar level of strength can just grab on and ride it straight back to you."

I flash stepped into melee range with the hollow and attacked with my sword to distract him from finishing off the unconscious sword spirit The vaccine attacked at the same time from the opposite direction.

"Sai," I said as the hollow raised his hand to block a punch from the vaccine. The low level binding spell was easily broken by someone with as much spirit energy as the hollow seemed to possess, but it only had to pull his arms behind him for an instant to let the vaccine land a punch that broke the hollow's jaw.

The hit didn't slow the hollow much, but it gave me just enough breathing room to call out the release command for my zanpakto, "Bind, Tsumi no Rensa!" The sword in my hand changed to a length of chain. I took it as a sign that no permanent damage had been done to the spirit when he'd been knocked out.

"I thought we'd established that weapon was useless against me," declared the hollow.

Leaping into the air to build some momentum, I twirled the chain length and brought it down in an overhead swing. As I did so, I said, "That's why you aren't fit to rule here."

The vaccine kept him too engaged to dodge aside, though if the hollow had any inkling of what I was about to do , he'd have taken any hits he had to from the vaccine in order to get away. The link on the end of my chain length was right on target for the hollow's head. He raised a hand to catch it, but before he did, I added links to the fast moving end point of the chain. Rather than increase the length of the chain, I cross linked the new links into a densely packed ball centered on that fast moving outer link.

Simple physics, even for spiritual matter, force equals mass times acceleration. My zanpakto's special ability meant I could radically increase the force I could bring to bear by accelerating a relatively light weight length of chain, then add mass once the chain was already moving. I didn't stop at a flail head made of a hundred links or a thousand. I crushed the inner hollow under a flail head bigger than he was moving as fast as the end of a whip. Then I removed all those links and got set to do it again.

The hollow's body was broken as I started spinning up my chain for a second hit. His chest had collapsed. His limbs were broken in multiple places. Blood had popped out of him giving him the general appearance of a crushed bug. Despite lying broken on the ground in a pool of his own blood, the hollow was not only alive, he was smiling.

"I guess you've got what it takes to rule here after all," said the hollow. "You can use my power. Keep us alive and indulge that killer instinct now and then, and I might just tell you my name next time we meet."

His body broke down into quickly dispersing particles. I went to check on Tsumi no Rensa, who was just coming around.

"We got him," I said. "Thanks for having my back."

"Always," affirmed the spirit of my sword, taking my hand and letting me help him to his feet.

"Thank you too, Vaccine," I said to the tall, pale, dark haired man in the black coat. "Are you going to be staying?"

He smirked and said, "I can hardly go elsewhere. The hollow was right about that much. We're a permanent part of your soul now."

Then I emerged from my inner world. I had just enough time to perceive that I was in the Visoreds' underground training area, inside a glowing barrier with Lisa, the dark haired visored with a braided ponytail, long legs, and a short skirt that showed them off. Instead of her glasses, she was wearing a diamond shaped mask with a cross shaped opening in the center that allowed her to see. She was breathing heavily.

I was vaguely aware of a broken exoskeleton falling away from my body. Then my mask broke and I collapsed to the ground with utter exhaustion. This time, my sleep was relatively peaceful.

* * *

"Ichigo," I said as we left school for the day, "can you do me a favor?"

"What do you need?" he asked.

"When you head to Visored HQ for training, can you check up on our souls?" I asked.

"What would they be doing there?" he asked.

"Assuming everything went well, I'm going to be joining you for Visored training," I said. "I'll have had Kiske use the hogyoku on me this morning."

"You're insane, you know that?" declared Ichigo. "Yeah, I'll see how you're doing."

"Thanks," I said.

"Does this mean our training is on hold?" asked Chad.

"No. We're actually ramping it up," I said. "I've found a match for your powers in the Soul Society's records, which means we can tailor your training to how your abilities really work instead of just building up your spirit energy and hoping you'll figure it out on your own."

"You know what this power is?" asked Chad, staring at his right arm.

"The readings I took yesterday matched with some old readings taken off an old substitute soul reaper badge from years ago," I said. "Come on over to the mansion and we can go over what I've found."

Chad and I headed to the mansion via portkey. Once there, I showed him a stack of papers I'd printed out. As Chad glanced over the paperwork, I offered an overview.

"The ability you have is called fullbring. There are two known ways to acquire fullbring. The first is for one of your parents to have been attacked by a hollow before you were born. Reshi from the hollow is passed on to the child and combines with the child's own soul into fullbring."

"What's the other way?" asked Chad, taking in this new information.

"A fullbringer can transfer their powers into a substitute soul reaper," I said. "That leaves the fullbringer an ordinary human. Given what I've seen, it's pretty obvious you got your powers through the former method."

"So, I have these powers because one of my parents survived a hollow attack," mused Chad. "That's why my powers feel more like a hollow's than a soul reaper's."

"Now we move on to the fun part," I said, smiling. "Fullbring is apparently a skill with a lot of applications. I think you've been unconsciously using some of those abilities your whole life."

"What kinds of abilities?" asked Chad.

"Fullbring, in its simplest from involves using your spirit energy to pull on the souls of objects. This causes the object to assist you in using it."

"What do you mean?"

"The day we met, you'd been fighting a hollow," I said. "I later found out you'd ripped a telephone pole out of the ground to swing at the hollow."

"I've always been strong," said Chad.

"Your physical strength combined with your level of spirit energy at the time weren't enough to rip up a telephone pole. You used fullbring on it and the telephone pole's soul helped you pick it up."

"I'm sorry," said Chad. "I know I should be used to finding out strange things by now, but telephone poles have souls?"

"Terminology's a little wonky," I admitted. "This world has ambient spirit energy. The spirit energy occupying the same space as a given object can be said to be that object's soul. It's the reason ordinary souls are dressed when they die. Objects people interact with tend to have more well defined souls. Those objects also develop a kind of imprint of the memories and emotions people experienced when they were interacting with it."

"I think I understand," said Chad. "How does this relate to my arm?"

"All the documentation about this talks about inanimate objects, but you seem to be able to sue fullbring on your own body parts."

"I'm pulling on the soul of my right arm? No, on the skin. That's what transforms."

"The records indicate that by using an object they have a strong emotional attachment to, fullbringers can draw on that connection and transform it. The object gains powers the fullbringer can use based on the emotions and memories imprinted on the object's soul. The really interesting part is that as the fullbring develops, the transformed form changes and its power increases. There is a completed form of any given fullbring, but your arm isn't in its completed form yet."

"How do I complete it?" asked Chad. He was excited and a little desperate.

"You'll need to train with it in life threatening situations," I said. "You'll also need to get better at consciously using fullbring. For that, I think we'll work on your speed. You and I are going to run laps, and I want you to try and keep up with me. You'll be trying to use fullbring on the ground to put more spring in your step and on the air to help push you in the direction you want to go. My notes indicate you should be able to achieve speeds comparable to flash step."

* * *

Chad had gone home for the evening. My soul had returned triumphant from Visored training and we merged back together. I had a lot more work ot do to master my new hollow powers, but Hadji had promised to teach me his space-time reversion kido tomorrow. I made a new cover for Sloth's Soul Gem out of soul synthesized glass thanks to Soken providing the necessary instruction earlier in the day.

Sloth and I watched the footage of my Visored training my bug recorded. While I'd been struggling in my inner world, my spiritual body had transformed into a mindless, bestial hollow. My fully hollowfied form had a humanoid upper body with a hole through the center of my chest, and the lower body of a giant spider. The mask, which I could now briefly summon at will, had eight eye holes, a pair of large fangs replacing the lower jaw, and a mane of black hair that draped down over the back of my head.

During the fight with Lisa, my fully hollowfied form had used sticky webbing from spinnerets on the back of my abdomen to try and gum her up, and had charged up a bright red cero from the hand that wasn't holding my zanpakto. After losing a couple of legs to Lisa's attacks, I'd grown them back with high speed regeneration.

"It was kind of scary seeing you act like that," said Sloth. "A brilliant mind and a kind heart, reduced to a destructive animal."

"The bestial behavior must be something like what happens with the Gilleons," I mused. "When no consciousness is in charge, the body goes on autopilot until someone wins the fight. Hopefully, with enough training, I'll be able to consciously control that form."

"Either way, I hope you never have to lose yourself like that again. It was too much like what happened to Gluttony."

"I showed my inner hollow who's boss," I assured her. "I'm in control of me, permanently."

At that point, Sloth's homunculus self skipped into the room carrying a bag. Her magical girl self fused her reigai with her homunculus self. She opened the bag and smiled.

"It all worked," she said. "Orihime made a dozen quincy bangles from the first one, including one for each of us. She also turned the scraps from Uryu's sanrei glove into a dozen gloves and reverted them to a state before Uryu trained with them so they wouldn't be locked to his spirit energy."

"So that means..." I said.

"Right. Quincy training in homunculus form using the bangles," said Sloth. "According to Soken, not only will the bangle let us form a bow and arrow, but it'll also let us learn other quincy techniques like hirenkyaku. Orihime's coming with us for those lessons, since none of her powers give her speed enhancement."

"Since the bangles apparently deteriorate quickly and Orhime can reverse the damage, that'd be a pretty good deal for her."

"She already agreed to maintain the ones we use for training," said Sloth. "How are things going with Chad?"

"Really well," I said. "Now that we know how is powers work, he's improving faster than ever. I wouldn't be surprised if he completed his fullbring in days now that he's actively striving for it. His speed is already improving."

"How long do you figure we have until Aizen makes another move?" asked Sloth.

"Three or four days," I said, glancing at the foeglass. "Really makes you miss Voldemort's slow, deliberate pace."

"He probably won't even come himself this time either," said Sloth. "Is there a way to just go to Hueco Mundo and kick is ass there?"

"We could," I said. "The Gate opens into spiritual realms just fine. The problem is we still don't have a counter for Aizen's zanpakto."

"What does he even want with this world?" asked Sloth. "He has his hogyoku. He has his army of hollows. Why not just go conquer the Soul Society?"

"Good question," I said. "We're a couple weeks off from finishing the veritasyrum, so even if Aizen did tell his strike force what the plan was, we've got no reliable way to find out. I tried legilimency on Ulquiora, but he blocked me."

"Kaien was in an espada's head and didn't know what his ultimate goal was," Sloth pointed out. "I guess if we're out of reliable means of acquiring information, we'll just have to use divination."

"My readings haven't been 100% accurate, but the results have been useful."

"Well, we have the time. I say we do full astrology charts for everyone, cross reference with tarot, palm, and tea leaf readings, and see if fire omens or the crystal ball give us any more details."

I nodded. "Both of us going over the same period of time with multiple methods then comparing notes would ramp up our accuracy."

"Neither one of us is Trelawney," said Sloth, "and even she could misinterpret what she saw, but I'd rather be prepared than not."

"And if we don't like what we see, we set ourselves against the stars," I said.

"That phrase sounded so much more poetic before my soul got turned into a piece of cosmoforming equipment," said Sloth wistfully.

* * *

Over the next few days, training and preparation ramped up. I learned Hadji's space-time reversion kido with about an hour's effort. After that, I was assigned to spar with the other Visoreds to build up my spirit energy in general, and to increase the amount of time I could maintain my mask before it crumbled. Getting a handle of Ceros, high speed regeneration, and other hollow powers would have to wait until I could maintain my hollowfication for more than a few seconds at a time.

The quincy bangles allowed Sloth, Orihime, and I to breeze through the rudimentary quincy training, since the bracelet did all the work of forming a bow, gathering spirit particles, and forming arrows. That let us focus on more advanced techniques like the high speed movement technique hirenkyaku.

Uryu had graduated to a new bow that took the form of a glowing blue web of reshi. His new bow could fire hundreds of arrows at once. He'd also added five special seele scneider arrows and a number of gintos to his combat load out.

Chad's growth as the most dramatic. Not only had he mastered fullbring enabled high speed movement and achieved the completed form of his right arm, but he'd learned to use fullbring on his left arm as well. His right arm, in addition to firing powerful energy blasts, could now reconfigure into a shield. His left arm could deliver a punch strong enough to crack my Ultimate Shield, at least when that defensive technique wasn't being bolstered by my spirit energy.

True to my word, I dedicated an hour a day in bankai training, learning to manifest my zanpakto spirit into the outer world. It would be years before I could expect to see progress, which was presumably why so few soul reapers ever reached bankai.

The martial arts and weaponry classes Sloth and I were taking under various guises were paying observable dividends. The fact that we were spending more than twenty four hours a day in those classes made a pretty big difference, letting us achieve in days what would take weeks or months for even a dedicated human subject to fatigue or hunger.

Our divination techniques provided a rough outline of the next couple of months, and they were very full with conflicts of various sorts. Most of those conflicts came along with opportunities if we played our cards right. The one coming up wasn't one that offered opportunity of any sort, only risk.

I'd provided some upgrades to the Rukon Militia's equipment. I'd assembled a scope for the kido guns based on the brass omniocculars I'd purchased at the quidditch world cup. The scopes could record, playback, provide information on known techniques, identify friend from foe, and extrapolate an enemy's movement in order to assist in targeting. Thanks to Hadji's technique, I only had to make one, then smash it to bits and make dozens of of identical copies form those bits.

Like it had during the war with Voldemort, attending classes and socializing with friends there did a lot to help keep the pressure from getting to us. As prone to isolating myself as I was, especially when I was working on a project, the routine socialization did me a lot of good.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Everyone's getting slightly better training than they did in cannon. Ichigo's been pushed to accept the Visoreds' help slightly earlier. Uryu's powers are back and he has his grandfather who he already respects to teach him advanced quincy techniques. Mayuri's data lets Chad train in a more directed fashion appropriate to his powers. Orihime's picking up high speed movement. Add to that having some forewarning of when the troubles are coming thanks to divination lets them arrange their training schedules around the coming disruptions and minimize their impact.


	36. Chapter 42: Aizen's Goal

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 42) Aizen's Goal  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Knowing that today was the day Aizen's next strike was coming, I was on high allert. While attending martial arts classes, I kept an ear perked up for an alert from my soul phone. I had to trust the other visoreds to let me know if they arrived while I was sparring, since I couldn't spare the attention sensing for distant spiritual pressure.

At Karakura High School, I didn't deactivate my sense of hearing to work on my lip reading because I didn't want to miss an alert. As a result, I heard familiar voices arguing in the hall before the soul reapers came in.

Renji was leading the group that consisted of Ikaku and Yumichika of squad 11 and Rangiku and Toshiro of squad 10. Rukia came in through the window at the same time. All were in gigais and they were all dressed in school uniforms. Captain Hitsugaya, obviously in charge of this group, asked Ichigo and I to come with them to speak in private. Once in an empty classroom, Captain Hitsugaya adopted a clipped, professional tone.

"The Head Captain gave us orders to coordinate with the substitute soul reapers regarding the defense of Karakura Town against the arancars."

"So, them not taking my badge away when they banished me wasn't an oversight," I contemplated aloud.

"You know it wasn't, and you know why," said Hitsugaya. "Not that it'll do much good in your case."

"So, you're here to help us out against the arancars," said Ichigo, changing the subject. "Your timing couldn't be better. We're expecting an attack sometime today or tonight."

"How did you figure that one?" asked Rangiku.

"Same way I identified the Ryodoji," I said. "I have a magic mirror called a foeglass that shows me my enemies and shows me how close they are to making a move."

"How many?"" asked Hitsugaya.

"A small force of six arancars, including one espada," I reported. "Grimjow Jagerjack."

"We should get back to class," said RUkia. "We can talk more after."

"She's right," said Renji. "If we want to maintain our cover, we should go."

I hung back with Toshiro while t he others headed out. "They didn't give me any time to talk to anyone after I was banished. How'd Momo take it?"

"She understood what you were trying to do," said Toshiro. "And she understood you were trying to protect her and the rest of the squad by acting alone. It's the same way she feels about Aizen."

"So, are you going to kill me?"

He sighed and said, "No. You did your best to keep Momo out of it, and you turned yourself in to face judgement. I'm willing to call it even."

* * *

As had become customary, we gathered at Urahara's shop to compare notes. Kaien had been able to provide the Soul Society with detailed reports on the various arancars under Aizen. My foeglass showed enough to identify them as consisting entirely of Grimjow and his direct subordinates, a group called a fraccion.

Knowing there was an espada coming, Toshiro, Rangiku, and Renji contacted the Soul Society to get authorization to remove their limiters. Meanwhile, Rukia explained that with Aizen making attacks on Karakura Town, the Soul Society had decided to bolster the defenses here on a semi-permanent basis. The exact soul reapers here to lend support would likely cycle out, but the increased presence would remain until Aizen was dealt with.

The mansion had plenty of extra space, so it was agreed that the Soul Society's forces could stay there. Chad and Orihime passed on the secret and handed a pair of letters to Captain Hitsugaya to show the members of the next shift to allow them to find the mansion. A handful of bedroom suites were made avalible for their use. I made a few new portkey cases for them to aid in rapid deployment in Karakura Town when a threat was detected.

Kiske, Tessai, and Yoruichi were away from the shop today. Jinta, Ururu, and the mod souls weren't sure where they'd headed out to, but they expected them back sometime tomorrow. Even if we could contact them, odds were they wouldn't be able to get back in time. Hopefully, we wouldn't need them.

The Visoreds were no great fans of the Soul Society's leadership and had asked us to keep their presence a secret. As such, they weren't included in our defensive strategies. We could call them for help, but that would be a last resort.

It was nearly midnight when the arancars arrived. I was beating Ikaku in our fifth game of wizard chess when I sensed the spiritual pressure of the arriving arancars. A quick check of our soul phones confirmed six signals. The arancars immediately split up. Most of them were heading toward points I'd prepared portkeys to. Rukia quickly identified the pattern.

"They're targeting people with spiritual pressure, but they don't seem to care about the size of the spiritual pressure. They're making a hit list!"

Tatski and Keigo are on that list," I said. "I don't have portkeys to their houses. I'll have to apparate."

"Tatski's close to where Chad is," said Sloth. "Whoever goes to help him can protect her too. Keigo's alone."

"Both of you, go," said Captain Hitsugaya. "I'll distribute everyone else with your portkeys. Rangiku, Renji, activate gentai kaijo."

I switched off my limiters, sensed for Keigo's spirit energy, took Sloth's hand, and apparated. Keigo wasn't at home. He was taking a walk. He jumped when Sloth and I arrived.

"Keigo, you're in danger," I said just as the arancar appeared with a boom of soinido.

I'd really hoped Hitsugaya would get this guy. His file indicated he had an ability to manipulate fire that wold make my flame alchemy attacks too questionable to use as a decent alpha strike. Instead, I opted for a simpler choice, using my superior speed, strength, and martial arts training, I flash stepped behind the arancar and put him in a full nelson.

While I grappled the arancar to hold him still, Sloth looped a yo-yo around the hilt of his sword, yanking it free of his scabbard and keeping it out of reach so the arancar couldn't release it.

"Keigo, a little help?" I said as I exerted both my red stone enhanced strength and my spiritual pressure to keep the arancar still.

"Right," he said, taking his kido gun out of the belt pouch it was in. "Are you sure this guy-?"

"He's here to kill you," interrupted Sloth. "There are more attacking across town. We need to finish this quick."

"Right" he responded, taking aim. The arancar's struggles ceased as he instead opened his mouth to charge a cero. Keigo pulled the trigger before the arancar could fire it, blowing off the arancar's head.

"Great job," I said, dropping the arancar's corpse and regenerating my left er. "Now, let me find the espada."

"You're looking for me?" asked the light blue haired arancar with a large hollow hole through his stomach and a row of teeth along one side of his feet as his remaining mask fragment. He was standing in midair. "When one of my fracciones died that quick, it had to be the guys who killed Ulquiora. Which means I'll probably get a decent fight. Grind, Pantera!"

Kaien had given a report on the arancar technique called resureccion. Arancars sealed most of their power inside their zanpakto. When they released their swords, their full power returned to them, along with transforming their bodies partway back to their original hollow form. Kaien had compared it to a soul reaper's bankai in terms of how much stronger it made the arancar. It was why I'd tried in my previous battles to end the fight before they could use it.

Spirit energy poured off Grimjow like shock waves. The mask fragment clinging to his jaw shattered, and his limbs stretched and distorted. His sort, spikey hair grew long and draped down his back. White armor covered his body. His ears tapered to points, his fingertips formed claws, and his legs were now daigrade.

Sloth formed a barrier around herself and Keigo, protecting him from the crushing energy of the espada's spiritual pressure. I took a bottle out of my belt pouch and drank the potion. The enhancements to my senses the potion provided let me draw my zanpakto and block when Grimjow rushed at me in a burst of soinido just as his spiritual pressure stabilized from his transformation.

A thin crack appeared on the blade of my zanpakto, which led Grimjow to grin. It was undeniable evidence that my spiritual pressure was weaker than his. He didn't realize there was more than spiritual pressure involved in this fight.

I flash stepped out of the way of Grimjow's attack and called down to Sloth, "Can you put us inside a barrier together so we can limit the collateral damage?"

She nodded and the barrier around her and Keigo vanished, replaced by a cylindrical barrier around Grimjow and I made of bright red light. Grimhow paused and watched as the barrier went up. Then he turned to me.

"You locked yourself in here with me even after what I just did to your zanpakto. That's gutsy. You should know, I'm espada number five, Grimjow Jagerjack!"

"I know who you are," I said. "My name is Greed. If you surrender, I can make the purification painless."

As I spoke, I donned the Ultimate Shield. Arancars have their hierro, an intense concentration of spirit energy in their skin that makes it as hard as iron. With no spirit energy whatsoever, my black, carbon hardened skin was stronger than diamond. My body's energy bolstered the strength of my Ultimate Shield further still so I was able to block Grimjow's next attack barehanded.

"Bind, Tsumi no Rensa!" I called out as I rushed inside Grimjow's guard. Wrapping my right fist twice, I added and removed links such that two chainsaw blades were grinding across my knuckles in opposite directions, expelling a massive amount of sparks. That fist punched Grimjow in the chest.

The force of my punch threw Grimjow backward to slam hard against Sloth's barrier. His chest was partly caved in on one side and two deep gouges had been cut into his flesh that were bleeding freely. My hand was undamaged as I stopped the chains.

"You bastard," said Grimjow, touching his fingertips to his bleeding injury.

"I'm surprised you survived that," I admitted. Then raised my left hand to my face and snapped, donning my hollow mask. "You won't survive the next one."

As I flash stepped at him, the chain around my right fist grinding faster than before thanks to my greater durability in my hollowfied form, Grimjow raised a bloody hand and yelled, "Gran Ray Cero!"

A blue green cero slammed into me with enough power to reverse my forward momentum and slam me back into the far wall of the barrier we were fighting in three times harder than I'd hit him. Grimjow's psychotic grin vanished as the energy of his cero finished washing over me, revealing that the only thing he'd accomplished was breaking my mask and shattering a few instantly replaceable links of my zanpakto.

"How?! How are you not dead?!" demanded Grimjow in a rage.

"That's right," I said, a smirk audible in my voice even if my inhuman face couldn't form the expression. "I never told you the name of this technique. It's called the Ultimate Shield."

I flash stepped in a zigzag pattern toward Grimjow to make it harder for him to get a bead on me. He raised an elbow and fired a cluster of five darts at me. Compared to his cero, they might as well have been moving in slow motion. Having closed the distance, I snapped my fingers, reforming my hollow mask to give me some extra power, and I landed a chainsaw punch directly to the espada's face. My fist came out the back of his head.

I let my mask crumble, withdrew the Ultimate Shield, and resealed Tsumi no Rensa into the form of a sword as Sloth lowered the barrier. Keeping the fight contained had cost her. Every bit of that cero that hadn't hit me had collided with her barrier. Those darts I'd dodged, her barrier had to stop. The Soul Gem on the golden circlet she wore was nearly black. A few sparks of red light were visible through the murky black corruption, but even those were vanishing quickly.

Sloth ended her transformation, her almost fully corrupted Soul Gem was in her hand. She held it out to me, her teeth gritted with determination as she powered through the despair that I could see flooding her soul. I set the Soul Gem down on the ground and formed a square orange barrier. The black grief that clouded her Soul Gem began to fade, letting the crimson light within starting to shine through.

"So, you've not only gotten the five arancars you took without permission killed, but you've died yourself, Grimjow."

I looked up to see Kaname Tosen standing in midair. The former captain was now dressed in a white, sleeveless outfit, though he retained his orange scarf. He had a hand on the sheath of his zanpakto and looked alert. Preoccupied with the barrier cleansing Sloth's Soul Gem, he had me dead to rights. I wouldn't be able to cast a silencing spell to protect me from his zanpakto's special ability before he could use it to render me, Sloth, and Keigo unconscious.

Instead, he snapped his fingers and a black garganta opened. He declared, "I shall inform Lord Aizen there will be no need to punish you for your insubordination." Then the garganta closed and he was gone.

While I continued cleansing Sloth's Soul Gem, I reached out with my spiritual senses and verified that Tosen was right. All of the arancars' spiritual pressures had vanished. Even better news was that the spiritual pressures of our friends remained strong.

* * *

While everyone had won their fights against the arancars, Hitsugaya was concerned about what it meant that even with the power limiters released, he'd still had to use his bankai against the fraccion he fought. Given that even with my mask, I only survived against Grimjow because I had been in my homunculus body, and that even that wouldn't have saved me against Tosen if he'd decided to make an issue of it, I couldn't argue the point. There was also the fact that we still had no counter for Aizen's shikai. There was still a lot of work to do before we'd stand a chance against his full forces.

"Why is he giving us all this time to get ready for him?" I asked when we'd finished going over our battles with one another back at Urahara's shop.

"Our assessment is he's using the time to recruit additional vasto lordes to provide a counter to the soul reaper captains," said Hitsugaya.

"Except he can personally neutralize the captains and lieutenants with his shikai," I said. "All his arancars would need to fight are the lower seated officers he never showed his shikai to. Given the number and strength of his forces, that would be a nonissue. He could conquer the Seireitei tomorrow if he felt like it."

"Maybe he's worried about winning the peace," said Uryu. "Crushing the Thirteen Court Guard Squads is one thing, but he'd need to be ready to seamlessly take over their duties once he managed it."

"Do you figure arancar zanpaktos purify hollows and perform konsos like soul reaper ones do?" asked Sloth, holding up a sword taken from a fallen arancar.

"I'll pass on the question to the Department of Research and Development," said Hitsugaya.

"There is another possibility," said Yumichika. "We know how strong his forces are relative to us because we've faced them and lived to tell the tale. As I understand it, so far none of Aizen's scouting parties has been able to report back."

"You're saying he might not realize how strong his arancars are because we've been able to keep beating them?" asked Chad.

"There's not much point sending scouts to probe the defenses of a place you think you know the strength of," noted Ikaku.

"Whatever's taking Aizen so long, that doesn't really change what we've got to do," said Ichigo. "We just need to get strong enough to beat him."

* * *

I couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing something, that the pieces didn't quite line up in terms of what I knew of Aizen's plans. It lingered in the back of my head for the next couple of days until the answer came from the Soul Society. Hitsugaya's team installed some communication equipment at the mansion that allowed for real time audio visual communication with the Soul Society. The first thing said on that line was that their investigation into what Aizen had accessed during the time he faked his death yielded results.

The Soul Society had a king. He dwelled in a separate dimension from the Soul Society called the Royal Realm. While nominally in charge, most of the day to day work of governing had long since been vested in Central 46. His significance was that he served as a kind of linchpin for reality. Without him, the Soul Society could not exist in its current form, which would have cataclysmic results for all worlds connected to the Soul Society. I couldn't help but be reminded of Sennna and the roles he played in the newborn Soul Society we'd forged from the Valley of screams.

Various precautions protected the Soul King, from powerful kido barriers, to a Royal Guard composed of powerful former soul reaper captains, to the very existance of the Royal Realm as a separate dimension. The only way to even access the Royal Realm was with an artifact called the Oken, or the King's Key. Only Yamamoto knew the location of the Oken, that information never having been written down as an additional precaution. Aizen had accessed a restricted document in the Central 46 library detailing how to make a replacement Oken.

The process demanded 100,000 living human souls and a plot of land with high spiritual density. Aizen was probing the defenses of Karakura Town because he intended to sacrifice it do forge the Oken. In light of Aizen's statements before leaving for Hueco Mundo, his goal wasn't the conquest of the Soul Society. His goal was to assassinate and replace the Soul King.

"I'm honored you'd trust me with this information given the reason for my banishment," I said.

"It is not lost on me that your actions have been instrumental in impeding Soske Aizen's progress thus far," said Yamamoto. "Nor do I believe your actions regarding the Shinenju were as reckless as they appeared to others. And if I am wrong about you, concealing this information will do nothing to prevent Soske Aizen from revealing it to you."

"You aren't the only exiled former captain living in Karakura Town," said Hitsugaya. "Am I to preume this information is to be passed along to Kiske Urahara and his group?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends as well," said Yamamoto. "Both worlds will need to gather their strength for the coming battle. The outcome will be decided in Karakura Town."

I went to pass the information on to the Visoreds while Sloth went to tell Orihime and the others. With the stakes now clear, the annihilation of a city's worth of people in service to putting a megalomaniac on the celestial throne, it made perfect sense why exiles like me and Urahara were being tapped. Every resource needed to be brought to bear and every strategy needed to be considered. Once the others were informed, I began my preparations.

The specific location in the human world Aizen needed was unique. It could only be done in Karakura Town. If there weren't enough living humans here, the Oken couldn't be made. I prepared a two stage denial system. The first was an underground transmutation circle deeper than the various buried training areas that I could activate at a moment's notice to kill everyone in Karakura Town and forge a Philosopher's Stone before Aizen could make his key. The second was a fifty megaton thermonuclear warhead in case Aizen worked out a way to disrupt my alchemy.

These were obviously options of last resort, but given the stakes, not having them would be incredibly foolish. The Soul Society was working with Urahara on a means of quietly evacuating the residents in a way that wouldn't tip off Aizen, so hopefully it wouldn't be necessary to kill them all to deny Aizen the Oken.

Last resort fail safes in place, I moved on to more practical matters. Spirit beings could be seen by those who weren't spiritually aware by looking through the scope of a kido gun. I armed a group of a hundred automatons and sent them out under invisibility cloaks to position themselves around town. As Aizen was sending forces to probe our defenses, I ordered the automatons to observe and stay hidden until I gave the order. I'd removed their ability to hear to protect them from sonic attacks like Tosen's shikai, instead implanting a disk into each one's forearm with a protean charm on them like we used for the DA coins. Transfiguring my master coin with their new orders would cause the coins in their arms to change to match. It was a very secure system. Aizen would have no way of knowing they were there until he committed his forces to attack in earnest.

Sloth made it back to the mansion not long after I'd sent out the automatons.

"How'd it go with the others?" I asked.

"Kiske wants to keep Orihime out of the fighting," said Sloth, indignantly.

"Keeping at least one person who can revive the dead back out of harm's way seems like sound tactics," I said.

"You don't understand," said Sloth. "He doesn't want her to contribute at all. He called her powers useless and said she'd just get in the way."

"Okay, he is not that stupid," I said. "Her only weaknesses are mobility and direct attack. The work she's doing with the quincy bangles should shore those up nicely. Even at her current level, she's prove she's an amazing force multiplier for you, cleaning your Soul Gem while you fight so you can go all out."

"I told him all that and more. He wasn't listening. He's convinced everyone else'll have to protect her, making her a liability."

"With that shield that blocked the Cleaner on her first real outing?"

"I know," said Sloth, frustrated. "It got to Orihime, though. She's so afraid of being useless and holding everyone else back that she just took it and ran off crying."

"How's she doing now?" I asked.

"Rukia talked to her. She's going to get back to training harder than ever to prove him wrong."

"Good for her," I said. "I guess even someone as smart as Kiske can get a dumb idea stuck in his head. Feel free to knock his Gigai's head off next time he tries to pull something that stupid. He's got plenty of spares and he could use the reminder he's only in charge of anything to the extent the rest of us decide he's got decent advice."

Sloth let out a sigh and said, "Well, it's not the first time we've seen a wise old man obsessed with taking down a powerful enemy utterly drop the ball. Wasn't Harry also about fifteen when Dumbledore told us nothing good could come from Harry learning legilimency?"

"He was," I confirmed. "And now I can't unsee the parallels. I just hope the important parallel holds. Despite how much of an idiot he could be sometimes, Dumbledore was trying as hard as he could to get us all out of that mess alive."

"One more paralell we should be hoping for," said Sloth. "We beat Voldemort."

* * *

Author's comments:  
If Grimjow was going to wipe out opposition in the world of the living based on Yami losing an arm in cannon, both Ulquiora and Yami dying would have him do the same thing. Jumping to resureccion after finding the people who presumably did it is about as pragmatic as I can imagine him being while still being the arrogant espada who had Ichigo healed just for the sake of getting a good fight in.


	37. Chapter 43: Remembering Why We're Here

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 43) Remembering Why We're Here  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

At breakfast the next morning, I brought up a preparation I'd wanted to sleep on before pursuing, as it was a gamble. After a good night's sleep, the potential payout still looked good enough to be well worth the risk. That meant it was time to sanity check it with an outside source. Sloth recognized the look on my face and braced herself. The soul reapers just kept on chewing their bacon.

"I think it's time I talked to Ran Tao about becoming immortal," I said.

"Last time we talked about this, you said the side effects were too severe," said Sloth while Rangiku patted her captain's back to help him with the food he'd choked on. "What changed your mind?"

"I'm still not thrilled about the side effects," I said, "but there just isn't enough time to master my powers without time turning. What I'd like to do is invest some time in a loop up front, working with her to see if we can refine the process."

"I'm sorry, but when you say immortality, what are you talking about exactly?" asked Yumichika.

"Ran Tao, the scientist who created the bounts, has a treatment that can effectively halt the ageing process in soul reapers," I explained. "Currently, it comes at a huge cost in stamina. I'm hoping that with the data I took from the Department of Research and Development, we can bring the price down. I was going to wait it out and see what developed, but now I'm thinking it's important to help things along."

"I'm with you on this plan," said Sloth.

"If it pans out, let us know," said Rangiku.

Expelling our souls from our bodies, Sloth and I left our homunculus selves in the world of the living and I called Koga to open a senkaimon.

* * *

Sloth and I spent a subjective month working with Ran Tao, occupying every room in the newly built Rukon University silmotaneously. The tissue samples we worked with experienced a much longer time frame as we used hour reversal charms to rapidly age our test samples a hundred years at a time to test out our theories on the treatment modifications.

The extra energy for staving off the ageing process had to come from somewhere. For the bounts, it was taken from the souls they consumed. In Ran Tao's original treatment, it came from needing much more sleep than an ordinary soul.

Our new treatment derived the necessary energy primarily from food. It was a far less rich energy source than the souls the bounts consumed, so the amounts needed were pretty significant, on the order of a Hogwarts style feast at every meal and considerable snacking between. If I couldn't get what I needed from food alone, the adjusted treatment would revert to Ran Tao's original method of extra sleep to make up the difference.

I was pretty satisfied with the balance, and after making sure nothing unexpected came up in the tissue samples from my hollowfied soul, I underwent the process. It felt good knowing that with proper upkeep, my soul could last as long as my homunculus body. We tested the modified treatment on tissue samples from a variety of different soul types. Between the real world testing of tissue samples and simulations run using the very thorough data in Mayuri's database, we were confident that the treatment would work on anyone with spirit energy.

Providing the treatment to Seireitei nobles and soul reapers would fund future research projects for decades, perhaps centuries to come. Very few souls really had to worry about dying of old age. Even without this treatment, denizens of the Soul Society were sufficiently long lived that some other cause of death like injury, starvation, or disease actually caught up with them first. For most, this treatment was more about quality of life, maintaining the youthful appearance and vigor of their prime. It wouldn't upset the balance of souls reincarnating between worlds.

I stayed under observation for the next subjective week, making sure the treatment had taken and no unexpected side effects showed up. Finally, satisfied that all was well, I returned to the world of the living with Sloth the same morning we'd left.

"Good news," I announced to the gathered soul reapers who'd just seen Sloth and I leave. "The treatment was a success. I brought enough for all of you."

"You just left," complained Ikaku.

"I know we mentioned time loops," said Sloth.

"You did. He just wasn't paying attention," said Yumichika.

After explaining the details to them, Hitsugaya and Ikaku didn't particularly care. Rukia and Renji found it interesting and needed to take the time to think through the decision. Rangiku and Yumichika were over the moon enthusiastic about it.

"This sounds too good to be true," thrilled Rangiku. "You never get old and the 'price' is you get to eat a lot of food that never makes you fat?"

"And if you don't feel like eating that much, you can substatute extra beauty sleep," Sloth reminded her.

"I can teach a spell you can use to multiply any food you have," I offered.

"Okay, I'm still not sure about this immortality treatment, but I have got to learn that spell," said Renji.

"With your kido skills?" said Rukia dubiously.

"If it means never having to ask for seconds again, I'll learn it," said Renji firmly.

* * *

Divination attempts indicated there was a conflict paired with a vitally important oportunity coming up in about a week. I scheduled my training accordingly. The martial arts and fencing practice done in homunculus form continued as before. Likewise socializing with our friends, helping chad and Orihime train, and giving Tatski and Keigo alchemy lessons. In spirit form, Sloth and I ramped up our training.

With no Grief Seeds, lethal sparring was out, but building up my levels of raw spirit energy wasn't my top priority at the moment anyway. I sparred with Sloth under limiters the same way I did with the Visoreds, building up the amount of time I could maintain my hollow mask and cutting down the cool down time between my mask breaking and when I could call it again. While I was working on my hollowfication, sloth was improving her magic efficiency, getting a better intuitive handle on which muscles to enhance when throwing a punch, and how to flare her aura to absorb a blow using the least magic possible.

After an hour of work with my hollowfication, we switched off for an hour of training with the quincy bangles. Our accuracy, power, and speed of our hirenkyaku all improved. After that, I worked on stealth for an hour with a long game of hollow hide and seek using hollow bait in the isolated woods near the mansion. There was no hiding the magic in Sloth's Soul Gem without an invisibility claok, so she sat out that hour, using it instead to go over the Soul Gem and Grief Seed data the surveillance bacteria had recorded in the hope of better understanding her own powers.

The next hour was bankai training. While I meditated and worked to pull my sword spirit into the outside world, Sloth experimented with her magic. Improving her control over powers she knew she had and trying to access powers her research and intuition told her she might have allowed her to improve her versitility.

The first day, we repeated that cycle a few dozen times, only calling a halt when I'd reached the point where donning my hollow mask was almost instantaneous, the cooldown time shrank to nothing, and I could remain hollowfied more or less indefinitely. Only then did I go train with the Visoreds. After demonstrating I could hold my mask for an hour sparring with Hyori, they consented to teach me how to use a cero.

The first thing they had me do was release all my limiters and hollowfy, bringing my spiritual pressure to its peak. For the next step, they got me angry. This was accomplished by Hyori throwing insults at me while the other Visoreds tossed cans, old chinese takeout boxes, and other trash at me from differant angles. I was prohibited from dodging, blocking, or looking around. It was a terrible method for building up rage and only managed annoyance. I called a halt after enduring half an hour of this pointlessness.

"Look if the point is to make me lose my temper, snap so all coherent thought shuts down and I go into a screaming, spitting rage, this isn't going to cut it," I said. "But I think I know what will."

"And what's that?" asked Shinji.

"I need to relive a memory," I said, getting out a rune engraved stone basin called a pensive. I explained its function as I drew my wand and used it to pull silver threads of memory from my temple. I plunged inside with the others following after.

Within the pensive, the nine of us were immaterial observers, able to interact with one another, but unable to touch the memory itself. We watched the action unfold from a third person point of view as Kyubey tempted Sloth with a wish that would let her clean the blood off her hands, as he slowly revealed how the magical girl system worked, as he taunted Sloth in order to tip her over the edge, as he turned his back on me once his business was finished. I let go of the emotional control Snape taught me in service to my occlumency. I let myself really feel the hurt and loss and rage I'd held in check at the time in order to keep moving, keep thinking, and get Sloth the help she needed.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, clenching my fists so tight, my nails dug into my palms. My eyes never wavered from the hated creature's swishing tail as an orb of bright red spirit energy gathered itself near my mouth. The cero released with a blinding flash. When the light faded an instant later, and of course, the memory of the creature was untouched, I started to charge a second cero. Shinji clasped my shoulder and I came back to my senses, letting the energy I'd gathered dissipate harmlessly.

The other Visoreds were silent as we left the penisve, I returned the memories to my mind, and stowed the pensive. I'd shown them all something deeply personal, a time I'd been unable to protect the one I loved. They'd seen the ragged psychological scars the experience left on me, and they understood well enough to respect the trust I'd shown them and give me a moment.

"All right," said Shinji when the moment had passed, "the first conscious cero is the hardest, since you have to teeter on the edge of consciousness and instinct to bring it out. Now you'll need to practice until you can do it with a calm mind and a clear head."

* * *

Mastering cero was my next benchmark. I gradually teased technique from instinct over the course of the following day's training with Sloth. First I learned to perform the technique while calm, then I mastered executing it under power limiters, and finally, I got the hang of firing it from my hands and feet instead of being limited to performing that dangerous energy buildup directly in front of my face.

When I went back to the Visoreds having mastered cero, I was shocked to learn that was the limit of what they could teach me. High speed regeneration, soinido, even bala were as much of a mystery to them as they were to me. It had taken them a hundred years of trial and error to get this far. If I was going to master those techniques and learn to control the fully hollowfied form my body had taken on while I warred for control of my spirit, I'd have to look elsewhere.

Soken, on the other hand, had a few new tricks to teach. After going over how to open shadow portals, which couldn't be done with the bangle, but which I eventually managed using my own spirit energy, he showed us how to overcome the paralysis of Mayuri's shikai. The technique involved wrapping your limbs with strings of reshi and manipulating your own body like a puppet.

Since her body was already a remote operated puppet, Sloth had a head start on me. We were both able to get an arm to move using the bagle, and I was even able to do the same with my own spirit energy.

The technique was traditionally the domain of elderly quincies. They used it to compensate for the diminished strength and speed in their weakening limbs. As Uryu had demonstrated, it could also be used to overcome paralysis and other crippling injuries. The real reason it was usually used only by elderly quincies was the insane levels of precise spirit energy control and mutitasking required just to stand and walk, let alone fight with all of your muscle control replaced with reshi puppet strings. Uryu was an absolute genius to have mastered it in less than a decade when some quincies never master it well into old age.

We weren't going to reach Uryu's level anytime soon, but the technique was perfectly suited to training up fine control of spirit energy. Like with bankai, spending years at a time in looped training wasn't psychologically feasable, especially when it was so focused on a single technique. Instead, we added an hour a day of work on this technique to our regular exercises.

* * *

The soul reapers Yamamoto dispatched did a great job keeping the pressure off Chad, Ichigo, Uryu, Orihime, Sloth, and I so we could focus on improving our abilities. Not long before the star charts predicted trouble, Hitsugaya took most of his team back to the Soul Society. It was a planned rotation. Rukia stayed on to coordinate with the new soul reapers.

Every one of us had gotten stronger and faster. Ichigo's mask was still a bit unstable, but his times were improving. Chad could now surround objects with a green light visible to even mundane senses and levitate them through the air with fullbring. He could stand in midair and accelerate his already devistatingly effective punches by using fullbring on the air. With Soken's guidance, Uryu worked to increase the speed, accuracy, and control of his new bow so he could take full advantage of its ability to fire hundreds of arrows at once.

Sloth cracked the secret to Orhime's offensive power. Tsubake, the rika who held that power, could slice anything short of soul forged silver in half with contemptuous ease. The problem came when facing living targets. His cutting power and durability dropped in proportion to how humanoid the target was and how much Orihime could empathize with it. Obviously inhuman and malevolent hollows were wiped out quickly and easily, but after Sloth finally talked Orihime into trying, Tsubake couldn't even cut Tatski's hair.

Rather than try to fight her nature, Sloth had Orihime practice disarming tactics with Tsubake. Destroying the inanimate swords of the arancars without trying to hurt the human looking hollows themselves would prevent htem from using their resureccion abilities and make the rest of us fighting them much easier. Kiske had called her weak, but with disarming added to her already epic defensive and healing powers plus the quincy bangle bosting her speed, she was going to be an absolute goddess in a combat support role.

In terms of her own powers, Sloth had picked up a couple new tricks. Having figured out some time ago that the exact form of her magical girl weapon wasn't set in stone, she pushed the limits on variety and found that with a lot of practice, she could summon almost any item she needed with her Soul Gem's magic. She likewise learned how to alter her magical girl combat outfit, though given how much she liked the black catsuit and red cloak, it didn't mean much.

After days of pouring over the Soul Gem and Grief Seed data, Sloth had developed a theory about her powers and how they might be increased. It was evening after a long day of training when Sloth brought me down to the privacy of our lab to explain her idea. She'd prepared visual aids on the computer to help get the complex ideas across.

"The reason Kyubey creates magical girls is that the energy our emotions produce isn't bound by thermodynamics," she began. "That doesn't just refer to us putting out enough power to keep the stars burning a few more years when we witch out. The hope that I use to power my magic never actually gets dimmer. The amount present in my Soul Gem is constant. It just gets obscured by grief.

"When I use my powers I generate an equal quality of hope and grief. The hope gets channeled into making my power work, and the grief builds up. It doesn't work the same way for witches. They are bound by thermodynamics. Creating a body, forming a labyrinth, producing familiars, all of it relies on stored grief. They can recharge themselves by drawing on the negative emotions of those bearing their kiss or those trapped in their labyrinth, but once a magical girl becomes a witch, she loses the ability to violate thermodynamics.

"Grief Seeds can draw grief out of Soul Gems, and both witches and familiars can use that grief as a power source. If I could spend grief like a witch while remaining a magical girl, my powers would be basically infinite."

"Any idea how to do that?" I asked.

"No," Sloth admitted. "Soul Gems become Grief Seeds, so all the hardware for using grief has to already be in there. My best guess is it's a deliberate limiter Kyubey built in that either breaks or shuts down at some point in the transition into a witch. Unfortunately, even with the advanced computers and sensors in this world, the technology is impossibly advanced."

"Well, we cracked the memory encryption," I said. "Give us enough time and we can do anything."

"I can channel my magic through a wand already," noted Sloth. "If my magic was unlimited, I could cast the killing curse with enough power to kill Kyubey."

"That seems way more likely than me being able to build up enough spirit energy to do it," I admitted.

"I wanted to get your opinion and put the idea on your radar," said Sloth. "Obviously taking out Aizen and the other local threats to our friends in this world is a more immediate priority, but if one of those opportunities we predicted could help us crack this, I wanted to make sure you kept an eye out."

* * *

Author's comments:  
Analyzing the Incubator technology and finding a way to kill Kyubey remains a long term goal even as they prepare to deal with the more immediate threat of Aizen and his arancars.


	38. Chapter 44: The Princess and the Assassi

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 44) The Princess and the Assassins  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

The next day, Sloth and I were out for our morning run. Our homunculus selves used the quincy bangles to work on hirenkyaku while soul reaper me raced with flash step and magical girl Sloth used her flash step equivalent. While we raced one another, our soul phones rang. It was a hollow alert. Over fifty had shown up in a large cluster in Karakura Town.

"Another scouting party?" asked Sloth. "This time sending in a mass wave of weak hollows to improve the odds one will be able to report back?"

"Could also be a distraction while he slips in an arancar somewhere else in town," I suggested. "Either way, we can't ignore dozens of soul eating monsters invisible to normal people."

Sloth nodded. "Do we bring our bodies?"

"Against normal hollows even this many, we shouldn't need them. Let us know the plan and that we'll call them if we need backup."

"Done," said Sloth as our homunculus selves nodded. "Let's go."

I took her hand and said, "When we arrive, I want you to stay out of the fight unless you see someone in direct danger. If this is a distraction, someone needs to be keeping a lookout. Besides, if possible, hollows should be purified with a zanpakto."

"If I have to get involved, I'll try to disable rather than kill," agreed Sloth as I apparated us into the middle of the swarm of hollows.

There was a familiar scent in the air. The recipe had subtle differences from the one I'd learned from Uryu, but someone had drawn all these hollows in with bait. As most of the hollows were hovering and trying to spot prey from above, I took to the air myself, flash stepping into the thickest mass of hollows and drawing my zanpakto, decapitating one of them in the same motion.

Two more hollows were cut down next to me as Ichigo and Rukia arrived on the scene.

"Why are there so many of them?" asked Ichigo.

"Hollow bait," I said. "Someone lured them in. Sloth's keeping watch in case this is a diversion."

"Let's split up and deal with them as fast as we can," suggested Rukia.

Ichigo and I nodded and all three of us flash stepped in a different direction. Under limiters, I had to be careful against regular hollows like these. A clean, well placed strike with my zanpakto to the neck or head would take my target out in one bit, but a miss wold leave me out of position and vulnerable to counter strike.

The first three went down clean, but the fourth hollow brought a bladed forearm up to block my overhead strike. He was ready to land a solid punch to my stomach when he stopped my sword. I felt a rib crack and the air blew out of my lungs. Worse, couldn't catch myself in time and I hit another hollow behind me with my back.

The hollow I'd slammed into wrapped his arms around me, pinning me in place while the one who'd blocked me rushed forward to stab me with that wrist blade. I judged the timing and took my animagus form a split second before the hollow's wrist blade could hit me. He instead stabbed the hollow who'd been restraining me. Retaking human form, I flash stepped behind the hollow with the wrist blade and bisected his skull, following the strike up with a clean, decapitation blow to the hollow that'd grabbed me.

I managed another six clean kills before I was distracted by a massive surge of spiritual pressure from Ichigo activating his bankai. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe under the crushing weight of Ichigo's spiritual pressure. The only reason I wasn't immediately eaten was the hollows surrounding me were equally effected by Ichigo's spiritual pressure.

My own spirit energy responded to the fact that I was paralyzed in midair surrounded by hollows my increasing. It wasn't by much, but it let me push past the paralysis enough to touch my substatute badge. With the power limiter on my badge deactivated, the weight of Ichigo's spiritual pressure was no longer paralyzing and I could breathe again.

With my strength and speed multiplied ten fold and the hollows paralyzed, I made short work of a dozen as I caught my breath. With all the hollows in my immediate vicinity cleared, I saw Chad, Uryu, and Orihime running up. There were more hollows than there had been when I'd arrived. The hollow bait had lured in as many hollows as the piece that had lured the gilleon. Uryu made a decision and fired his bow, annihilating every hollow in the sky with a barrage of hundreds of quincy arrows.

I felt a little conflicted. Even with his bankai enhanced speed, Ichigo wasn't killing them fast enough. It wouldn't have taken much for someone to wander close and get eaten by one of the less sluggish hollows. Uryu'd undeniably saved some lives. In terms of pure numbers, though, Ichigo, Rukia, and I could've purified the whole bunch long before they'd eaten enough to match their numbers. Even without the risk to the balance, you could see how the differing priorities of soul reapers and quincies could come into conflict.

I could get over it. Prioritizing saving the living over saving the dead, saving wholes over saving hollows, was a valid choice. It wasn't the choice I'd have made, but that didn't make him evil. We linked back up to compare notes.

Uryu had sensed unknown soul reapers in the area just before the hollows arrived. Ichigo had seen them. There were two of them, protecting a young soul who didn't have a visible chain of fate and who dressed and acted like a spoiled princess. They'd run into one another just before he got dog piled by the hollows and had to activate his bankai. Now, there was no trace of them. Even their spirit energy had completely disappeared.

There wasn't much more we could do at this point. Ichigo and the others headed to class. Sloth and I got back to our routine training until it was time to join them. I spent the better part of an hour with my mask on trying to heal my cracked rib with high speed regeneration. Eventually, I was forced to concede defeat and mend it with a spell.

* * *

Now that my soul was no longer ageing, I'd resumed making daily trips to the Soul Society. When I arrived at militia headquarters in Kusajishi, I was greeted by a familiar face. Ganju Shiba and his gang had come out.

"Ganju, what brings you out this way?" I asked.

"It's about this army you've been building," said Ganju. "There isn't a town in the Rukon District where there aren't people wearing your uniform promising to protect people from gangs with spirit energy like me and my boys."

"Have they been hassling you when you weren't doing anything wrong?" I asked. "Koga and the other bounts were supposed to help keep that sort of thing under control."

"No, no, it's nothing like that," said Ganju. "You see, it used to be that if folks in the Rukon District were having problems with that kind of thing, they knew they could count on me and my gang to help them out. Now, they just run to the closest people in blue uniforms."

"So, you want in?" I guessed.

"Well, that depends," said Ganju. "If I wanted to join an army and be told what to do all the time, I'd'a signed up with the soul reapers like my big brother Kaien."

I smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about that. This is a militia, not an army. There's a chain of command, but militia members are expected to protect the people of the Rukon District from criminals and hollows when the soul reapers can't or won't. How you go about it is pretty much up to you.

"The bounts are the sheriffs. Each of them is responsible for policing members of the militia, dealing with anyone in their assigned district who tries to use their position with the militia to oppress people. They also provide general coordination, making sure weapons and equipment are distributed in their districts. I've put in place safeguards against the bounts abusing their power, but if those fail, as militia head, I deal with it.

"Like I said, normally you're free to defend your home town or do the wandering law man gig, but there are two exceptions. If there's an emergency you can't handle, you can call on and expect assistance from other militia members in neighboring towns. And, in the event of a serious threat like a full scale Menos invasion, the militia gets called up and everyone follows my orders until the crisis is over. If I'm not available, the Thirteen Court Guard Squads can issue orders in my place during such a crisis."

"That's really it?" asked Ganju.

"If we made th requirements too onerous, we wouldn't have been able to grow our membership as fast as we have," said sloth.

"Hey, why aren't you in uniform?" demanded Ganju.

"I'm not on militia business," said Sloth. "When you're out of uniform, you're off the clock. Barring one of those emergencies Greed mentioned, you don't need to be in uniform."

"You do need to be in uniform when you're acting as a member of the militia though," added Koga.

"Well, I guess you'd better get uniforms for me and my gang then," said Ganu.

"Welcome to the Rukon militia," I said, drawing my wand and conjuring uniforms in their sizes.

While we were getting Ganju and his gang up to speed, they shared some rumors from closer to the Seireitei. Apparently, Yamamoto'd found a new captain to take over Squad 3. His name was Shuske Amagai, and he'd previously been a member of the patrol divisions operating outside territories controlled by the Soul Society identifying and eliminating threats. I wished him better luck than I'd had dealing with the Seireitei's politics.

* * *

The next day in class, three new students were introduced. Kenryu, a black haired young man, Enryu, a mostly bald man bigger and more heavily muscled than Chad with a single lock of black hair, and Rurichoi Kasomioji, a girl with long blond hair and green eyes who looked about ten. Even with all the weird transfer students lately, myself included, they drew confused looks and questions.

Sloth and I were spending more time intact lately, so she was in a position to use her telepathic abilities to work out what was going on. These were the people Ichigo had seen the previous day. They were wearing spirit energy concealing gigais from Urahara's shop.

The girl was the princess and sole heir of the Kasomioji clan, a prominent and powerful Soul Society noble family, ranked just below the likes of the Kuchkis and the Shihoins. The two men were her guardians and bodyguards. They'd come to the world of hte living after a series of incidents in the Soul Society led them to believe Viceroy Gyukaku Kumoi was trying to have Rurichio assassinated in an attempt to take over the clan.

The incident with the hollow bait yesterday had been a test set up by Kenryu and Enryu to see Ichigo's skills in action. His reputation was growing within the Soul Society, and the bodyguards had hoped that he would be able to help them deal with further assassination attempts. He'd apparently passed the test, since the three of them had purchased the house next door to Ichigo and had enrolled in Karakura High School in order to stay close.

This job wasn't one they wanted Ichigo to know he had. Kenryu and Enryu's idea was to just use his proximity as an added layer of protection and hope Ichigo would intervene with an attacker before they could get close.

While Sloth was mining their brains, the three of them were doing a terrible job blending in. Enryu was self-conscious about his voice and refused to speak, relying on gestures to communicate. Rurichio had a formal mode of speaking that somehow managed to draw more attention than her apparent age. It was Kenryu who took the prize for drawing attention with his overzealous protectiveness of Rurichio.

"Is my way of speaking truly so strange?" asked Rurichio.

"Well, yeah," said Keigo. "It's not like it's the middle ages."

"Address Lady Rurichio again and I'll put you in the ground," Kenryu said to Keigo.

Rurichio was already distracted talking to Ichigo and I doubted she'd caught Kenryu's threat. I grabbed Kenryu by the back of his neck and slammed his face down into a desk. I'd used the array on my shoes to subtly reinforce the esk as I did so, both to ensure the amount of force I slammed him down with wouldn't break the desk, and to muffle the sound of his impact and draw less attention.

"Threaten one of my friends again, and you'll be the one in the ground," I breathed into his ear.

Enryu moved to assist Kenryu and found his head pinned to the same desk by Sloth, who said, "Don't start trouble and there won't be trouble. We're going to let you both up now."

Sloth and I released the two bodyguards, who pretended nothing had happened. There weren't any more threats.

This class was an open minded and welcoming bunch, and after some initial awkwardness, the three visiters from the Soul Society were happily socializing. I was a little surprised Tatski had to restrain Chizuru from jumping Rurichio. The princess was far more my type than hers. Clearly the red head had a broader range than I thought.

With a risk of assassins showing up right next door, Rukia convinced Ichigo to let her stay over at the Kurosaki residence. Rukia promised to alert the rest of us if the assassins made a move. Since everyone already had portkeys that would take them to Ichigo's house, an alert would be all we'd need.

* * *

"I'm really not seeing the opportunity here," I said when Sloth and I returned home for the day.

"You don't see how being able to save the life of a member of the Soul Society's ruling class could benefit us?" asked Sloth. "The Kasomioji have a representative to the Central 46 chamber. An exile who saved the life of the head of the family would not only get her representative rethinking his sentence, but other noble families would also see the benefits of having him allowed back in the Seireitei in case they or their heirs needed saving."

I transmuted a roast and set it in the middle of the dining room table. When our soul reaper house guests came, summoned by the smell, Sloth and I switched to parceltongue.

"The thing is," I hissed, "aside from being able to visit Rukia, Renji, Hanataro, and the others, there isn't much I really need to go to the Seireitei to do. And the goodwill of the nobles will mean less and less as the Rukon District modernizes and develops."

"Which I'm sure is a fact that won't be lost on the nobles," noted Sloth. "Once they realize what's happening, there will be some who try to slow or turn back the march of progress. While Rurichio is in the world of the living, she'll get the chance to see how an egalitarian, industrialized society works. Add to that owing her life to the hot older guy pushing for progress and we might get a voice pushing back against the conservatives."

I thought about what Sloth said as I dug into my meal. I was getting used to the big meals I needed to sustain my immortality. My alchemic skills meant I never needed to worry about cooking too much, since whatever my expanded appetite and the cycle of soul reaper house guests didn't finish could always be broken back down into its elemental components for storage until the next meal. There was cherry pie and ice cream for desert. With all the well prepared free food, the soul reapers staying with us politely ignored it when Sloth and I started hissing at one another. We could have used telepathy, but our years at Hogwarts had gotten us used to using the language of snakes when plotting.

After cleaning up, Sloth and I headed out to the yard to play a three way game of frizbee with Loki until the sun went down. As we came back inside, our soul phones beeped to alert us to a text. The assassins were making their move.

I grabbed Sloth by her hand, released all of my power limiters, and turned on the spot, apparating to the front of Ichigo's house. Ichigo and Rukia were in soul reaper form on the roof of the house next door, fighting a masked figure wielding a sword that had a large, round mirror for a guard. Kenryu and Enryu were carrying an unconscious Rurichio out of the house and running down the street.

Ichigo and RUkia looked like they had the assassin well in hand, so Sloth and I ran after Rurichio and her bodyguards in case there were more assassins lying in wait. Orihime, Uryu, and Chad arrived on the scene a moment later. Orihime stayed to support Ichigo and Rukia while Chad and Uryu joined Sloth and I following Kenryu and Enryu.

The four of us formed up in a diamond shape around Rurichio and her guards. As I'd been the one to slam Kenryu's face down on the desk earlier, I took the lead position. Hopefully, showing my back would help them realize we weren't with the assassins.

"Is Rurichio hurt?" asked Sloth as we ran.

"No, she's just sleeping," said Kenryu. "What are you all doing here?"

"You suck at keeping a low profile," I said. "It wasn't hard to figure out Princess Rurichio's life might be in danger, so we set a watch."

A light blue getsuga tensho from Ichigo's shikai accompanied the disappearance of the assassin's spiritual pressure. Our party circled around back to the house where Kenryu came clean, explained everything Sloth had already learned through her telepathy, and got on his knees to beg for our help. We agreed quickly with just one snag.

"Should we wake the princess and explain the new plan now, or did you want to fill her in in the morning?" I asked.

"Lady Rurichio does not know about the attempts Kumoi had made on her life, and I ask you not to tell her," said Kenryu. "It would traumatize her."

"You're not giving her enough credit," said Sloth. "I went to school with a boy who was around her age when he learned he was being personally targeted by the most powerful dark wizard in history. Not only was he not traumatized, but he went on to lead the light side against that dark wizard and won."

"Besides, she already knows Kumoi's after her," said Ichigo.

"How could you possibly know that?" said Kenryu skeptically.

"Sloth and Greed can read minds," said Ichigo. "I can do it a little too, but they've got actual training in it."

"Teaching you how to control that better is still on my to do list," I said. "It's just you've got so much else it's more important you master first."

"Rurichio isn't stupid," said Sloth. "She's known about Kumoi for a while. She also knows you've been trying to keep it from her so she wouldn't worry. She's been playing along so you wouldn't worry about her feelings."

Kenryu and Enryu sank into a depression over that revelation, proving Rurichio was by far the more emotionally stable of the three, and that if anything, she might have had a point being worried about traumatizing them. We eventually calmed them down, cheered them up, and they agreed to talk to Rurichio in the morning. With that, we all returned home.

* * *

Now that we'd agreed to take on the role of protectors for Rurichio, two new faces appeared in the foeglass. One was an old, white haired man with opaque glasses that Sloth identified as Kumoi. The other was a soul reaper with messy blue black hair, a bit of stubble, and a captain's coat.

"I think this is the new third division captain Ganju told us about," I said. "We'll take a picture to the Soul Society to be sure."

"If there's a captain backing Kumoi's play, we're going to need to be careful," said Sloth. "It means just eliminating Kumoi won't be the end of it."

"And either way, it means this will all be resolved in the Seireitei," I added. "I have a way in without raising suspicions."

"You usually wait until the last minute to tell me about your brilliant plans," noted Sloth. "I'm not complaining either way, but what's different this time?"

"You'll see," I said, expelling my soul from my homunculus body using my substitute badge. As usual, I'd switched off the surveillance when Sloth and I had retired to our bedroom suite.

My Visored self drew my wand and performed a set of transfigurations on my spiritual body. My spiked brown hair drooped and turned red. My brown skin paled and grew freckles. The shape of my face, nose, neck, and chin all altered. I turned to sloth and smiled with slightly unfamiliar teeth.

"As I'm no longer welcome in the Seireitei," said homunculus me, "I'll be sending my apprentice and personal representative, Ron Weasley."

Sloth cracked up, laughing hard enough that she had to wipe away tears, and said, "Okay, good call showing me this early. I wouldn't have been able to keep a straight face. Why Ron?"

"Besides the fact that he really was my apprentice," said homunculus me, "I know enough of his family names, important dates, and other details that make him useful as a fake identity."

"Ron also doesn't look much like me, so there's less reason for them to suspect it's a disguise," said Visored me.

"So, our story is you trained up a member of the militia and sent him under orders to protect Rurichio and deal with her enemies?" confirmed Sloth.

"That's the idea," said Visored me, concentrating my spirit energy so my zanpakto would shrink to the size of a dagger which I concealed inside my uniform jacket. "I'm also hiding my spirit energy using what I've learned from the bounts and the quincies. Let the enemy assume I'm a muggle until an opportune moment appears."

"Well, I can't see any obvious reason it won't work," said Sloth. "You'll need to leave your badge and phone behind, obviously."

Both mes nodded. That settled, Visored me reversed the transfigurations and merged with my homunculus self again.

"It'd help if we could capture the next assassin alive," I said after I'd pulled myself together. "The foeglass is only showing us the key players. We'll want everyone involved in the conspiracy."

Sloth nodded. "The last assassin deliberately stopped defending himself so Ichigo's getsuga tensho would kill him. Fanatics like that don't just go away after you take down their leader."

"The others suck at nonlethal tactics," I said. "We're going to have to take the lead against the next one while everyone else focuses on keeping Rurichio safe."

"I'll keep a wand charged," said Sloth. "The good news is that the first assassin wasn't that tough. We shouldn't have to worry about them breaking the binding spells."

* * *

Shuske Amagai was the man in the foeglass. Asking around near the Seireitei's gates not only let Sloth and I confirm that, but also let us get more details about his abilities and what he'd had his squad up to.

Like Captain Kyoraku of Squad 8, Amagai's zanpakto consisted of two blades. The one strapped to his left hip was a more conventional katana. The one on his right hip was an odd to bladed short sword that resembled a tuning fork. Amagai had won a lot of respect from his men by using this second sword to fire an energy blast that obliterated the cleaner after squad 3 had been pinned down in the dangai.

"We are in deeper shit than I thought," I said to Sloth as we took the long way back to Kusajishi, intending on dropping off portkeys to the towns along the way to simplify travel within militia protected territory.

"What do you mean, Greed?" asked Sloth.

"You've seen the cleaner," I said. "That gooey purple bullet train is part of the precipice world's defenses. It can mow down Menos Grande by t he dozens and not slow down."

"So by destroying the cleaner, he's left the Soul Society vulnerable," said Sloth.

"The cleaner will regenerate," I said. "The restrictive current will still entrap weak hollows and unintelligent Menos. The cleaner's mostly there to keep people from taking advantage of the increased density of time. I'm not really worried about that."

"What then?" asked Sloth.

"The cleaner's tough," I said. "It's not indestructible, but it's damn close. Soul reapers who haven't undergone hollowfication have a natural strength limit. Destroying the cleaner using raw spiritual power is above that limit. Amagai is stronger than should be possible."

"Could you destroy the cleaner?" asked Sloth.

"No," I said. "Maybe I'll eventually be able to build up my spirit energy to the point I can do it, but for now, no."

"What about me? Could I do it?"

I nodded. "That punch you delivered to Ulquiora would've done it, though given the nature of the restrictive current, you shouldn't use a punch."

"Okay, when it comes time to fight him, I'll be the one to do it," said Sloth matter of factly.

"It's moot until we have evidence against him. I don't think Yamamoto'll be understanding about us killing another captain. But when the time domes, I'll be there to back you up."

* * *

In class that day, Sloth confirmed Rurichio and her guardians had talked about Kumoi and his plot. Rurichio was determined to enjoy her time in the world of the living while we came up with a plan to deal with Kumoi. So, rather than head straight home after class, Rukia took Rurichio to an arcade.

It was nice getting some pure recreation in. Time turners meant we didn't miss our regular training. The informal setting gave us a chance to get to know Rurichio better. She took to video games quickly and enthusiastically, demonstrating a sense of wonder and capacity for joy despite present circumstances. As we took turns at the gaming controls, it soon became clear that what at first had appeared to be a stuck up attitude was really just her being unaccustomed to life outside her palace and untrained in the manners involved. She was a quick study and genuinely wanted us all to like her.

We parted ways for the evening with Sloth and I time turning to continue with our after school lessons with Chad, Orihime, Tatski, and Keigo. The two of us were back at the mansion sitting down to dinner when Rukia sent an urgent text. The assassins were attacking Ichigp's house. We apparated out that instant.

When we appeared outside the Kurosaki house, the roof had collapsed. A rough stone wall had appeared on top of the house. Kenryu and Enryu were rushing Rurichio, Misaki, Karin, and Yuzu next door accompanied by a flaming lion wearing armor. Ichigo and his father Ishin were both out of their bodies. Ishin had on a soul reaper uniform with a white cloth tied around his shoulder that looked suspiciously like a captain's coat. Rukia and the Kurosaki men had the assassin surrounded.

"Stupefy!" yelled Sloth. A bolt of crimson light flew from her wand and struck the assassin square in the chest. Occupied with his three opponents, he didn't have a chance to dodge, and collapsed unconscious.

"I'll fix the house," I said. "Get him restrained next door for the interrogation. We'll explain everything. I promise."

A quick transmutation fixed the damage to the roof, though the wall that had collapsed it was a spiritual construct that had to be vanished instead. Uryu, Chad, and Orihime arrived as we were heading inside. Once behind the barrier that had been put up around Rurichio's house, we exchanged explanations with the Kurosaki family.

Ichigo's family had been aware of his activities as a soul reaper in vague terms since Sloth resurrected Misaki. As such, it didn't take long to fill them in on Rurichio's situation and that we'd agreed to help protect her. The explanations from the Kurosakis were more complicated.

Ishin had been the captain of Squad 10 many years ago, and had abandoned that life after meeting Misaki. Kiske had provided him with a gigai similar to the one Rukia had used that drained his power and turned him human. He considered it a small price to pay to be with the woman he loved and to have the chance to raise their children. It was only recently, after Ichigo became a soul reaper himself, that Ichigo's leaking spiritual pressure managed to stimulate and restore Ishin's own abilities.

The flaming armored lion we'd seen was Cammy, the pet cat Sloth had brought back to life as proof of her abilities when we'd brought Misaki home. After he'd died, Cammy had developed a degree of spirit energy and could use it to transform into the form we'd seen. It was too bad there wasn't a reliable way to induce that change, since it was exactly what I wanted to give Loki.

Spirit energy sealing manacles restrained the assassin. His weapons were locked up in another room and he'd been stripped and put in a grey jumpsuit. Satisfied with the precautions, I drew my wand, pointed it at the prisoner, and said, "Ennervate!"

"You will explain yourself this instant!" ordered Rurichio.

"You'll get nothing out of me," declared the prisoner.

"It'll go easier on you if you talk," I said, "but if you insist on doing this the hard way, we have options. Legelimense!"

Images flashed before my mind's eye, each tinged with emotion and meaning. Like most of the Soul Society, this man's mind was an open book. A moment later, I turned to hte others.

"This man is an assassin in the service of the Kasomioji clan," I reported. "Kumoi isn't contracting out Lady Rurichio's death. He turned the clan's assassins to his side in this coup attempt first."

"Does he know who else within the Kasomioji clan is on Kumoi's side and who is still loyal to the princess?" asked Kenryu.

"The household servants, common guards, and most of the vassals are still on Lady Rurichio's side," I said. "Kumoi has the clan's assassins, the smiths, and a handful of vassals."

"Kenryu, why was I never informed the House of Kasomioji kept a staff of assassins on retainer?" demanded Rurichio.

"We wanted to wait until you were older and less likely to be traumatized by the news," said Kenryu.

"You've been overprotecting her," said Ichigo. "You thought she'd be traumatized if she knew where carrots come form."

"Let's get back on the subject of what the assassin knows," prodded Uryu.

I nodded, pointed my wand, and repeated, "Legelimense!" I dug deeper, probing for what he knew of Kumoi's ultimate plan. I fond something I hadn't expected but should have.

"The Kasomioji clan are renowned swordsmiths with an exclusive contract to supply ceremonial swords to the royal family," I began. "Kumoi's been secretly building up to this coup for decades. He used the swordsmithing secrets of the clan and experimented on numerous souls to develop a new kind of weapon called a bakoto."

"What's a bakoto?" asked Rukia.

"The glave weapon this guy was using was one," I said. "The mirror sword from last night was another. Bakoto are partly organic and feed on the spirit energy of their wielders. They're like zanpakto that have no separate release states and that can be wielded by anyone with spirit energy. There's a flaw, though. Unlike a zanpakto that develops a symbiotic relationship with its wielder, sharing its power in a way that strengthens both, bakoto can grant extraordinary powers well above the wielder's limit by devouring its wielders power, weakening him until there's nothing left. Used sparingly, with a lot of time to rest and recuperate between uses, they could be a boon, but it's easy to slip up, lose control, and be devoured."

"When you say they can let their wielder exceed their limit," said Sloth, "could this be how Captain Amagai destroyed the cleaner?"

"That would be my guess," I said.

After a brief overview of what we knew or suspected about the new third vision captain, Rukia said, "These weapons are clearly illegal. If we bring the one we captured to Captain Commander Yamamoto, he'll be able to launch an official investigation against Kumoi. Any involvement Captain Amagai had will come to light as well. In a few days, this will all be over."

"Before we do that, there's something I want to check," I said, stepping out of the room.

The others followed me to the locked storage room we'd placed the bakoto in. We found the door's latch and hinges sliced cleanly through by a blade. Someone had broken in and stolen the bakoto. We rushed back into the other room in time to see the one we'd captured get stabbed through the heart by a weighted throwing dagger. Outside, a masked figure holding the bakoto flash stepped away.

"These assassins kill themselves to keep from being interrogated," said Sloth helplessly. "My powers don't work on people who want to die."

"Mine do," said Orihime. An orange healing shield snapped into place over the assassin.

"We'll make sure he's really gone," said Ichigo.

"In the meantime, I am going to make sure none of the assassins can ever get in here again," I said. "Misaki, would you give me a hand?"

The fideleous charm in place, with Misaki Kurosaki as the secret keeper, it was otherwise bad news all around. The assassin's knife had been coated in an exotic poison Orihime couldn't reject. Even after Sloth neutralized the poison with an antidote, the assassin stubbornly refused to come back to life. The second assassin had gotten away clean.

Rurichio transitioned from shocked horror to righteous anger at the disregard the assassins showed for the lives of their comrades. She was taking seeing a man die in front of her remarkably well. Kenryu and Enryu were clearly underestimating her resilience.

With our witness and our evidence gone, we were back to it being our word against Kumoi's, and that wouldn't be enough for Central 46. We'd just have to wait for Kumoi to try again. Fortunately, he was sending his assassins daily like clockwork, so it wouldn't be too long.

* * *

Author's comments:  
There was no way Ishin was going to keep concealing his powers if a threat came right to their front door, so that's one less Kurosaki family secret to worry about. In other news, the house next door is now hidden by a fideleous charm, giving the family a place to retreat to in the event something else goes wrong.


	39. Chapter 45: Rurichio's Loved Ones

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 45) Rurichio's Loved Ones  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

I woke the next morning to my soul phone ringing. Sometime during the night, Rurichio had vanished. Sloth and I wasted no time apparating to Ichigo's house. When we appeared, Kenryu was waiting to berate me.

"You said it was impossible for anyone to get in! You promised Lady Rurichio would be safe!"

"Sir Kenryu, calm down," said Rukia. "We don't know how Greed's barrier was breached, but it doesn't matter. We have to focus on getting Lady Rurichio back."

"She's still alive," verified Sloth after consulting her Soul Gem.

"Greed, can't you track her?" asked Ichigo.

"I can if they have a hair," I confirmed, getting out my equipment. After a few seconds, I said, "She's not in the world of the living."

"Kumoi would have had her taken back to the Soul Society," said Kenryu, drawing his zanpakto. "Come with me."

"What are you doing?" asked Rukia as I joined the others headed for the Soul Society. "This senkaimon opens to the seireitei. You aren't supposed to be there."

"Wouldn't be the first time I've defied Central 46 to protect an innocent girl," I said, drawing my wand as we ran through the precipice world. "Wouldn't be the second time either come to think of it. Even so, probably best you don't mention I'm with you."

I quickly transfigured myself into the image of the red haired Ron Weasley, concealed my zanpakto inside my uniform jacket, and pulled a kido gun out of a belt pouch to sling over my shoulder. I'd left my substitute badge in the hands of my homunculus self, and I spoke the release phrase, "gentai kaijo," to ensure I had full access to my spirit energy. I quickly cloaked that spirit energy to add to the illusion of me being a rank and file militia member.

When the senkaimon opened, I saw that rather than entering through the main senkaimon handled by the soul reapers, we'd come in through the private senkaimon on the Kasomioji estate. A pair of guards with two pronged, nonlethal pole arms stopped us briefly before Kenryu vouched for our party.

"She's in the Seireitei," I reported, looking at the fluid filled glass vial. "Outside the estate grounds."

I led Kenryu, Enryu, Rukia, Ichigo, and Sloth to the outer gate of another noble clan's estate where Rurichio was climbing out of a veiled sedan chair carried by four servants. The gate guards regarded our party with suspicion.

"Lady Rurichio, what are you doing?" demanded Kenryu. "You need to come with us immediately."

"No, Kenryu," said Rurichio firmly, "what I need to do is attend this party."

"No one breached the barrier," summarized Rukia. "Lady Rurichio left on her own."

"You're risking your life for a party?" said Ichigo, exasperated. "I thought you were smarter than that."

"This party's very important to you, but you knew Kenryu and Enryu would say no," said Sloth. "That's why you left without taking any security."

"You will kindly refrain from reading my mind from now on," said Rurichio, angrily.

"I didn't need to read your mind to figure out that much," said Sloth.

"If this party is that important to you, will you at least consent to us providing additional security now that we're here?" I asked.

"I do not know you," said Rurichio.

"My apologies," I said with a bow. "Ron Weasley, member of the Rukon militia and personal representative of Commander Greed. Since the commander isn't allowed inside the Seireitei, he sent me to assist with protecting you."

"Lady Rurichio, the longer we stay here, the more danger you are in," said Kenryu. "We should leave as soon as possible."

"You may leave, Kenryu," said Rurichio. "I am staying whether you choose to remain or not."

"You've lost this one," said Rukia to Kenryu. "Lady Rurichio, we would be honored if you would allow us to provide additional security for you as well as the other guests."

The subtle reminder that it wasn't just her own life she was risking by potentially bringing Kumoi's assassins here got Rurichio to back down enough to consent to our pretense as guards and speak on our behalf of the guards of the hosting estate.

Inside the estate, we were introduced to the hostess of the party, a fellow noble and close friend of Rurichio's named Sayori. Sayori was a brown haired, blue eyed girl who looked to be about ten, though my intuitions about ageing in the Soul Society were basically useless. After introductions had been made, Sayori bowed to us and spoke.

"Please don't be angry with Rurichio. I wanted her to be here because this will be my last tea party. After this, I am going to be married."

"Congratulations," said Ichigo.

"That isn't a good thing," snapped Rurichio angrily. "It is an arranged marriage. Sayori's family arranged it before she was born. She will be forced ot marry soemone she doesn't know and might not even like!"

"It's all right, Rurichi," said Sayori, tearing up. "I'm resigned to it. I'm just so glad you could come, since this will be our last chance to see each other."

"What?" I said.

"You're marrying into a very strict family, aren't you?" said Rukia, comfortingly.

Sayori nodded, then said, "Why am I crying? I've accepted this."

"You shouldn't have to accept it," I said. "You aren't a piece of property to be bought and sold. You're a person."

"Arranged marriages are common among the nobility," said Rukia.

"You aren't going to convince me this is okay," I said, my attempts to keep the heat out of my voice making it come out cold instead. "Forcing her to marry someone against her will is unacceptable on its own. Cutting her off from her friends on top of it, I won't stand for this."

I drew my wand. I felt Sloth put a hand on my leg. "What are you going to do?" asked Sloth.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then kneeled before Sayorki. I pointed my wand at my left palm and conjured a pair of rings, one set with a green stone, the other, red. The two stones glowed blue for an instant. Then I extended my hand to Rurichio's friend.

"On behalf of the Commander of the Rukon Militia, allow me to present these wedding gifts," I said. "Be careful not to touch the stones. If you do, you will find yourself whisked away by the magic inside."

"Where will they take me?" asked Sayorki, taking the two rings by their bands.

"Touching the green stone will transport you instantly and secretly onto the grounds of the Kasomioji estate. Touching the red stone will transport you to the militia's headquarters in Kusajishi. Once you've used them, touch the stone again to be returned to where you were."

The two noble girls stared at the rings in awe, then a grin spread across their faces.

"This is great, Sayori!" said Rurichio. "You'll be able to sneak out and see me whenever you want."

"And if you find life with this new family unbearable, the red ring will take you beyond their reach and you'll still be able to see your friend," I said.

"Thank you so much," said Sayori. "I will never forget this."

"You do remember that the Kasomioji estate is not safe, don't you?" Kenryu said to me.

"Sir Kenryu is correct," I said. "If things go badly in the next week or so, use the red ring. That should give us enough time to put Rurichio's house in order."

The party was able to proceed with a much lighter mood with that no longer casting such a pall over the proceedings. This would decidedly not be the last time Sayori would see her friends. A few other noble girls the same age were already at the party and were thrilled to see that Rurichio had made it.

In a gutsy move, Kumoi did send an assassin after Rurichio here. He waited until she separated from the other guests to use the bathroom, escorted only by Sloth, who looked younger and frailer than the girl she was guarding. Since Sloth didn't have conventional spirit energy, underestimating her was an easy mistake to make. The assassin used a reigai to take the form of a lost little girl in order to get close enough to stab Rurichio. Instead, Sloth had ripped him out of his reigai and tied him up with her yo-yo strings.

"Rukia, can you get this assassin to the Captain Commander while the rest of us keep Rurichio safe?" asked Sloth when she returned, dragging the bound attacker with her.

"Right," said Rukia accepting the prisoner.

"We should return to the world of the living while the Thirteen Court Guard Squads sort this out," said Kenryu.

"I suppose you are right, Kenryu," said Rurichio. "Sayori, I have had a wonderful time. I will see you soon."

I restored my normal appearance as we traveled back through the senkaimon. Rurichio was surprised, but immediately thanked me again for what I did for Sayori and promised to keep my illegal visit to the Seireitei a secret.

* * *

Rurichio, Kenryu, and Enryu were back behind their fideleous charm and Sloth, Ichigo, and I had gotten back in our bodies and explained what had happened to Chad, Uryu, and Orihime when my soul phone rang.

"There's a problem," came Rukia's voice on the other end. "Our prisoner slipped loose from his bindings during transport and attacked Captain Zaraki."

"We lost another witness," I said exasperated. "Can you tell Rurichio and the others, Ichigo?"

"Yeah," said Ichigo. "I didn't really expect it to be over. It seemed too easy."

"Now that some of their people have been able to report back, they'll have a better idea what they're up against," said Uryu.

"I say we set a trap," said Sloth. "Have Rurichio stay behind the barrier, and I can wear her gigai. Its a spirit energy concealing model anyway so they won't be able to tell I'm not her."

"That would let us lure the assassins where we want without risking Rurichio," acknowledged Chad. "We could bring them someplace out of the way where we can fight all out without anyone else getting too close."

"We can use those invisibility cloaks and ambush them when they take the bait," added Orihime.

"I'll run it by Kenryu and Enryu," said Ichigo. "See if they want to be in on the ambush or if they want to stay with Rurichio and have us use their gigais."

"While you're doing that, I'll check in with Kiske," I said. "He's still busy working on a countermeasure for when Aizen strikes, but I think I can convince him to loan us a little extra firepower for this plan."

* * *

The plan worked like a charm. Kenryu and Enryu escorted Sloth along the riverbank that ran through the center of town. Sloth smirked a split second before a group of twenty assassins, four of them wielding bakotos, flash stepped into view surrounding them. Rukia, Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, and I stepped out form under our cloaks surrounding them. Then Sloth, Kenryu, and Enryu took out three green soul candy pills and swallowed them, exiting their gigais ready to fight.

"All of the princess' protectors in the same place," observed the lead assassin with the mirror hilted bakoto. "Once we kill you, the princess will be defenseless."

A familiar laugh came from Rurichio's gigai. "They certainly are confident. Noba, Kurodo, let's go!"

Kurodo, in Kenryu's gigai, started things off by shapeshifting into one of the identically dressed assassins and attacking another. Noba teleported himself and Ririn in Enryu and Rurichio's bodies respectively, behind Orihime, who raised her triangular shield to protect the mod souls who's abilities were best utilized outside the main fray. The rest of us rushed in.

The four bakoto wielders fed spirit energy into their weapons. They were the main threat. The mod souls could handle all the others on their own. Sloth quickly divided us into pairs so we could take down the assassins two on one. Thanks to her telepathy, none of them knew who their opponents would be until they were being hit from two directions.

Ichigo and Rukia were handling the leader who'd spoken earlier. Kenryu and Enryu were dealing with a scythe wielding hunchback with bad teeth. Chad and Uryu were up against a man with an eye patch wielding the wall generating glave we'd seen before. Sloth and I were taking down a man with a barbed sword that had what looked like a fish for a handle.

Our opponent dodged the stunning hex I fired from my sealed zanpakto and avoided Sloth's efforts to entangle his feet. To prevent them from working together and synergizing their attacks, Noba teleported each two on one fight a short distance from the others. Channeling more energy into his sword, the assassin released a vision obscuring mist from his bakoto.

"Hado 58: Tenran!" I called out, twirling Tsumi no Rensa like a propeller on its balance point. A whirlwind blew away the mist, leaving the assassin viable and exposed. Sloth followed up on my kido by throwing a yo-yo at the assassin's kneecap with enough force to shatter steel. The yo-yo passed right through the assassin's body as he dissolved into mist himself.

The mist that formed his body spread, reinforcing itself with elevated spirit energy to keep from being dispersed by my kido again. The blade solidified behind me just long enough to slash at my back. Fortunately, it didn't have the cutting power to penetrate the Ultimate Shield I had up over every part of my body covered with clothing. The surprise reveal accomplished, I spread the Ultimate Shield over my hands and head with a wave of blue alchemic light.

"My bakoto has already guaranteed my victory," said the assassin from within the cloud of mist. "How can you hope to defeat an opponent you can't even touch?"

"Amateur," Sloth said with a smirk. Her yo-yo vanished and she clapped her hands. A sphere of blue alchemic light expanded outward from her palms, freezing the grass and water in the river solid and causing all the moisture in the air that was made of matter to precipitate out as snowflakes. The mist, composed of spirit particles, couldn't be directly effected by alchemy, but the super cooled air the mist was floating in drew off heat in a more conventional way and caused the mist to slowly start to freeze as well.

The assassin fed yet more of his spirit energy into his bakoto to keep the mist from freezing and he slashed Sloth across the back. She staggered momentarily, but red light flooded the wound an instant later, leaving her body fully healed.

"There's no real moisture in the air now," I said, "but you've kept your mist above freezing, and thus nice and chemically active. Try this one!" I stomped my foot and arcs of blue alchemic light crackled through the battleground as I separated trace metals from the soil and kicked it up into the air as a dust cloud of pure metallic sodium. Matter and spirit particles didn't interact chemically, but one could be converted to the other. Focusing my spirit energy through my sword, I improvised a spell to mimic the action of a spirit particle conversion machine on the uniform, elemental motes of metallic dust around us.

The assassin screamed as the sodium burned away his cloud if mist, leaving him visible and tangible, covered in burns and breathing heavy. The organic portion of his bakoto had grown pink flesh over both of his arms, extending a second serrated blade from his opposite hand. Sloth succeeded in blasting a hole clean through his knee with her yo-yo.

I felt the spirit energy radiating off his weapon grow exponentially as light poured out of the assassin's mouth and eyes. He lunged at me by pushing off with his one good leg. I raised my zanpakto to block, but before he reached me, his bakoto consumed the last of his spirit energy. His physical form evaporated and the residual energy was drawn into the bakoto, which reverted to its original sword form and fell to the ground at my feet.

Looking up to assess how the others were doing, I saw Ichigo in bankai fighting an assassin nearly covered in pink tentacles from his bakoto while Rukia had broken off to assist Kenryu and Enryu with the scythe wielder. A massive explosion I recognized as the quincy Springer technique heralded the end of Uryu and Chad's fight. The mod soul trio had just finished incapacitating the lesser assassins. Ichigo and Rukia's opponents were both swallowed by their respective bakotos before I had time to decide who to assist.

We gathered back together and I used my zanpakto to cut all four of the captured bakotos in half.

"We need those as evidence!" Rukia exclaimed.

"It's okay," said Orihime. "I think I know what Greed had in mind."

We both used space time reversion to heal one half of the four bakotos, leaving us with two of each type. I gathered up the set I'd repaired and apparated back to the mansion, putting them in a locked cupboard in the basement lab. Once they were secure, I apparated back.

"There," I said. "Now, if anything happens to our evidence this time, we'll have backups."

"Kiske wanted us to wait until the fighting was over to mention this," said Ririn. "He didn't want you guys distracted. Apparently Kumoi's sent out notices announcing that Rurichio's fiance Shu Kanogi's been named temporarily head of the Kasomioji clan. He also sent out invitations to shu and Rurichio's wedding in two days.

"We should let Rurichio know what's going on and plan our next move," said Sloth.

"We'll head back to Urahara's shop," said Ririn. "Noba'll send your gigais back once we get there."

* * *

"If Shu has become involved in this, we have to do something," said Rurichio. "I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to him."

"Are you two close?" asked Sloth.

Rurichio nodded. "Even though it was our families that arranged our marriage, I have known Shu for years. He is a wonderful, gentle person, an I love him very much."

"Then he's likely acting as a hostage in an attempt to lure us out," I said. "I don't suppose you keep a lock of his hair with you I could use to track him, do you?"

Rurichio shook her head.

"We don't need to track him," said Ichigo. "Kumoi already told us where he was going to be."

"The wedding," said Rukia. "It's obviously a trap. They'll have to use a body double for Lady Rurichio. There's no reason to assume they won't do the same for Lord Shu."

"I will be able to tell if it is him," said Rurichio. "As I said, we have known one another for years."

"If the same is true in reverse, they won't be able to use the real Shu in a ceremony with a fake Rurichio," pointed out Uryu.

"I will be able to recognize an imposter because I will be looking for an imposter," said Rurichio. "Shu has no idea any of this is going on."

"It's really sweet how you jump to his defense like that," said Orihime.

"If we're going to act at the wedding itself, it'll mean delaying the delivery of our prisoners and evidence," said Rukia. "If we show our hand too soon, it could put Lord Shu in danger."

"We can't come, can we?" said Chad.

"Kiske's spirit particle conversion gate isn't warmed up," I confirmed. "We wouldn't make it in time if we brought anyone with a physical body."

* * *

While we were fighting the latest batch of assassins in the world of the living, the Soul Society suffered an attack of its own. Five Menos Grande were sighted by Militia members in districts bordering the Seireitei. The Menos had emerged inside the walls of the Seireitei itself. The militia members who spotted the Menos had stepped up, contacting the gate guardians nearest them and offering the Rukon militia's assistance. Three of the five Gilleons were destroyed my Militia kido guns before the Thirteen Court Guard Squads could organize and respond, dealing with the remaining two.

It had turned out to be a drill. Captain Commander Yamamoto had arranged full sized fake Gilleons to ensure a realistic response. As Koga relayed all this to me the morning after, he added that some of the soul reapers were expressing a newfound respect for the Militia after that performance.

I'd really come to set up for our rescue plan the following day. The pan was to use a single use, one way, touch activated portkey to get Shu Kanogi out of the Seireitei. Koga had problems with the Seireitei nobles, blaming them for the poverty and violence in the Rukon district, but he agreed to protect Shu when he arrived. I suggested Koga talk to shu about the situation while he was here. If we played our cards right, both Shu and Rurichio would be valuable allies in our reform efforts.

When Sloth and I returned to the world of the living, we found our homunculus selves brewing dozens of poisons and antidotes. Chad had volunteered to be repeatedly poisoned so Orihime could practice rejecting that kind of damage. She was determined that what had happened with the second assassin wouldn't happen again.

Beyond that, the day was uneventful. Either Kumoi was counting on the wedding to lure us out, or he'd run out of assassins. I pegged the former as more likely and confirmed that with the prisoners.

* * *

Author's comments:  
I found Sayori's situation genuinely heartbreaking, and it did a lot for my ability to sympathize with Rurichio. It also sets up the fact that instead of going off half cocked to try to deal with Kumoi like she did in the original, she's coming to rescue her dude in distress with full backup.


	40. Chapter 46: Shuske Amagai's Fall

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 46) Shuske Amagai's Fall  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Kumoi had the Kasomioji clan's private senkaimon sealed on the day of the wedding. Rukia opened the main senkaimon to let us in instead. Unfortunately, when I touched the opening, a powerful shock burned my hand. When Central 46 banished me, they'd placed spells on the senkaimon to keep me from using it to enter the Seireitei ever again. Ichigo, Kenryu, Enryu, Rurichio, Rukia, and Sloth went on ahead while I used the bounts' senkaimon to enter through the Rukon district.

I entered the Rukon district with my own face, then stepped out into the woods to transfigure myself into the appearance of Ron Weasley before apparating to the west gate. During the bount invasion, I'd equipped the gate guards with secrecy sensors that would vibrate in response to deception, be it lies, invisibility spells, or the kind of disguise I was using. I approached Jidanbo confidently.

"Jidanbo, my name is Ron Weasley. It's a pleasure to meet you." As I spoke, I fixed my gaze firmly on the secrecy sensor he was holding and cast a wandless, nonverbal freezing charm to keep the dark detector still.

"I'm happy to meet you," replied the giant soul reaper. "I haven't seen you around here before. What brings you to the gate districts?"

"I've been asked to provide some extra security for a noble family," I said, keeping the secrecy sensor still. "Have you heard about the wedding today?"

"They don't really tell us gate guards much," said Jidanbo, looking at the antenna-like secrecy sensor held still by my spell. "Well, you check out. I'll open the gate for you."

Once the massive sekiseki stone gate was lifted, I waved goodbye and flash stepped away. The longer I stayed, the greater the risk I'd be discovered. I was able to home in on Ichigo's spirit energy without much trouble even over the background of powerful souls in the Seireitei.

"Ron," said Sloth when I arrived, "Rukia's taken our evidence to the Squad 1 barracks while the rest of us are going to crash the wedding."

"We shouldn't have to crash," said Kenryu. "Kumoi is trying to present this as though nothing unusual is going on. As Chief Chaimberlaijn of the House of Kasomioji, I should be able ot get us in the front gate without us revealing Lady Rurichio's presence in our group."

Things weren't that easy. Kumoi had increased security around the estate, putting guards unfamiliar with Kenryu at the main gate. The commotion raised when we tried to enter drew the attention of Squad 2, who had been providing additional covert security. Squad 2's captain, Soi Fon, was not the most reasonable or understanding of the captains. The longer we argued with her, the more danger Shu was in.

"If you have an explanation for this, you can give it once you're in a cell," said Soi Fon.

"We can't do that," said Ichigo. "Shu's life is in danger. We don't have time to argue."

Sloth stepped between Ichigo and the captain, saying, "Go, I'll hold her off until orders come down the chain of command calling her off."

"I thought you were smarter than this," said Soi Fon, drawing her zanpakto as Ichigo decked her lieutenant and led Kenryu, Enryu, and Rurichio into the Kasomioji estate.

"Save your strength for Amagai," I advised Sloth, stepping between her and the Squad 2 captain. "I can't beat him, but I can hold her off."

Sloth nodded and ran after the others. I unslung the kido gun from my shoulder. The Menos incident a couple nights ago had made the threat level of the weapon very clear to everyone in the Seireitei. I tossed it to the ground.

"A kido gun doesn't have a nonlethal setting," I said, drawing my wand instead. "You aren't my enemy."

"You shouldn't underestimate your opponent," declared Soi Fon as she flash stepped in my direction.

A wordless shield spell let me block her zanpakto with my wand as she aimed for an incapacitating strike to my stomach. I fired off a stunning hex, but she flash stepped out of her captain's coat, avoiding the stun and slashing across my back. I avoided crippling injury by flaring my spirit energy, preventing her zanpakto from cutting too deep. Soi Fon followed up the attack with a kick aimed at my head, which I barely got my left arm up in time to block.

Her kick meant she was out of position to flash step for the split second it made contact. I managed to fire off an "Expeliarmus!" Even with her stance momentarily off, she easily got her zanpakto in the way of the bolt of red light from my wand. The spell caused her zanpkato to fly out of her hand and a distance away from the melee. Soi Fon ignored the dropped weapon for the moment and delivered half a dozen sharp, quick punches to my stomach, then looped a leg around my right arm for leverage. With a quick jerk, she broke my wand arm and flash stepped to retrieve her zanpakto.

I took a vial of regenerative serum from my utility belt while Soil Fon got her weapon. She had no intention of making it that easy. The captain flash stepped at me, aiming to destroy the bubbling green vial. I flash stepped out of reach, but she was faster and more experienced than me, shattering the vial and severing one of my fingers. I tried a kick, but it was clumsy and just left me open to a counterattack. I was hit in the groin hard enough to slam me face first into the ground and toss up a dist cloud.

"You should have stayed down," said Soi Fon as I struggled to my feet. "Sting all enemies to death, Suzimebachi!" The release command caused her sword to transform into a golden finger gauntlet. No disarming charm would help against that.

If I wanted to live now that she was fighting seriously, I'd need to pull something. Tsumi no Rensa was eager to test his power against the captain's zanpakto, but releasing mine would be as good as confirming my identity. Instead, I raised my mangled, bloody left hand to my face and snapped. A bone white spider mask with a mane of black hair flashed into existence, and I felt my spirit energy swell.

"A hollow mask?" she said in surprise.

The momentary surprise, and the likewise unexpected boost in speed my increased spirit energy granted me, let me flash step behind her and land a hard kick to the center of her back. As she struggled to her knees, I charged a crimson cero in my left hand. Soi Fon's reflexes were incredible. Rather than try to dodge, she rushed inside my guard. The cero fired over her shoulder toward an empty part of town.

I felt a sharp pain in my chest as Soi Fon stabbed me with her finger gauntlet. I trued to hit her with a left hook, but she dodged to my right, stabbing my useless right arm as she went. Once she had some distance, Soi Fon raised her finger gauntlet and stared me down.

"Suzimebachi's special ability is death in two hits," she said as a black drawing of a butterfly formed at the site of each of her two strikes. "The first hit creates a target. That target never goes away. Even if you run from here, the targets will remain. No matter how long it takes, if I can hit the target a second time, you will die."

"You stabbed my broken arm because it's harder to defend than the target at my core," I said, my voice echoing with that of my inner hollow. "That means this arm's more of a liability than an asset."

With an act of will, I shifted my spirit energy away from the connective tissues to lower durability, then ripped off my right arm. For good measure, I cast a quick kido to destroy the severed limb.

"You won't be able to do that if I mark your other arm," affirmed Soi Fon.

She rushed in at me, striking my mask. It might have been my imagination, but i thought I could feel the mark spread across my left cheek. Ignoring it for the moment, I opened my left palm right up against her stomach and called out, "Shakaho!"

That spell hadn't been intended for close in combat, and we were both burned by the close range explosion. My hollowfication granted me greater damage resistance than she had, however, and my burns ended up being largely superficial while her stomach looked blackened and cracked. We had some distance again.

As Soi Fon got back to her feet, it was clear my spell hadn't taken her out of the fight. She now had two targets, and I only had one hand to defend with. The captain rushed in, made a halfhearted stab for the mark on my chest, then fell back smirking as the butterfly mark spread over my left forearm where she'd struck when I blocked.

Screaming at the top of my lungs, I rushed at her. She planted her feet, chose her target, and waited for me to charge blindly into range. Just before I was, I turned on the spot and apparated to a position a hundred feet straight up. There, I held my forearm in front of my face and charged a cero. I fired straight up, obliterating my arm and drawing Soi Fon's attention. She flash stepped at me, and I had no way to block.

Like pure rage and hatred had been the key to unlocking cero, desperation and the will to survive proved to be what was needed to trigger high speed regeneration. Milky white fluid bubble in my stumps an instant before I grew back both of my arms. I interposed my left hand in the way of Soi Fon's strike, letting her impale it, then I grabbed her wrist with my right hand, breaking the clasps that held her zanpakto to her hand.

Soi Fon pulled away and stood in midair a distance away. I pulled the blade out of my hand, regenerating the wound tough the butterfly target remained. I quickly shoved the small zanpakto into a belt pouch, where hopefully she couldn't retrieve it.

"I didn't expect high speed regeneration," admitted Soi Fon. "I'll still be taking my zanpakto off your corpse. Do you know why the uniform I wear under my captain's coat doesn't have a back or sleeves? It's to facilitate the use of a technique called Shunko. Kido is channeled through the limbs allowing it to be wielded as naturally as one's own body. Any clothing covering those areas would be destroyed by the energies involved."

Wind based kido surrounded Soi Fon's arms and shoulders. She flash stepped at me and punched. I avoided the fist itself, but the whirlwind of energy surrounding her arm lifted me off my midair footholds and tossed me end over end until I slammed into the ground hard. A second punch hit home, driving into my chest hard enough to shatter ribs and collapse a lung while the wind from her Shunko blasted away the dust and debris. A kick broke one of my knees. A second kick knocked the air out of my non-collapsed lung and lifted me off the ground. A third kick sent me spinning into a wall, breaking my left elbow and dislocating my left shoulder.

Even with my high speed regeneration, Soi Fon was inflicting damage faster than I could heal it. I tried to throw a full body bind hex on her to slow her down and give me some breathing room while she threw it off, but the kido swirling around her served as a passive defense against my spell. She slammed a fist into my face and I could feel my mask breaking.

My salvation appeared in the form of a black hell butterfly. In the gruff voice of Captain Commander Yamamoto, the hell butterfly announced, "All captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, I have in my possession evidence that the Kasomioji clan is guilty of treason. All squads are ordered to seize the Kasomioji grounds for further investigation and detain all involved."

"Truce?" I choked out as my regenerated rib cage let my lungs re-inflate. I let my hollow mask crumble when my injuries had healed. Soi Fon deactivated her Shunko and I returned her zanpakto.

I quickly summoned my wand and kido gun before rushing into the Kasomioji estate following Ichigo's spiritual pressure. I found him in an inner room with Sloth, standing over Kumoi's corpse. The man had been cut in half.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We got Shu and Rurichio out with portkeys," said Sloth. "We went after Kumoi, but when we got here, Amagai was already here. He killed Kumoi and teleported out, taking Kenryu and Enryu with him."

"Why take them?" I asked.

"Because he's going to use them to hunt down Rurichio," said Ichigo. "Kumoi was never the one in charge. That's why none of this got started until Amagai was made a captain."

"I don't think the teleportation technique he used could get him past the sekiseki stone membrane," said Sloth. "He's probably still in the Seireitei."

I nodded and took out what looked like a blank piece of parchment. Touching my wand to it, I spoke the passphrase, "I solemnly swear, I am up to no good." The map of the Seireitei appeared with moving dots corresponding to every man, woman, child, and animal were labeled with their names. Every soul reaper was a double dot, labeled with both their name and the name of their zanpakto.

Shuske Amagai was nowhere to be found in the Seireitei, but after Sloth clarified their full names, I found Kenryu and Enryu in Captain Commander Yamamoto's office with Rukia and two unknown soul reapers. "Mischief managed," I said, clearing the map as I put it away. Then I took Sloth and Ichigo by the hand and disapparated us out of the Kasomioji estate.

* * *

The Captain Commander's office was enormous with an open floor plan, high ceiling, and a massive balcony overlooking the Seireitei. The bakotos Rukia had brought were laid out on Yamamoto's desk. Yamamoto had his zanpakto out and had shed his shirt, showing off a hard muscled body covered in long faded scars. It was a stark contrast to the frail appearance he usually projected stooped down in his oversized captain's coat. This fit better for a man who could paralyze me just exerting his spirit energy.

Rukia, Kenryu, and Enryu were off to one side, weapons drawn and staring at Shoske Amagai. Without the images from my foeglass, I wouldn't have recognized the Squad 3 captain. He was also shirtless, with black scaled armor covering his right arm, trailing a black tail over his shoulder. There was a scaled black sash across his chest with four yellow orbs I recognized as bakoto cores. Amagai was wielding a sword larger and more awkward thank Ichigo's with a red hooked blade and a cross guard resembling a conch shell that was large enough to serve as a shield all on its own.

"Explain!" demanded Amagai. "How did you find us?"

"You would've evaded us if you didn't take the princess' bodyguards," I said, raising my kido gun and taking aim.

"What's up?" demanded Ichigo of Yamamoto, who'd been standing there passively. "What's keeping you from fighting him?"

"Hmph," scoffed Amagai. "He's already tried to, but he can't, because my bakoto cancels out the power of soul reapers!"

Glancing down the barrel of my kido gun, I saw the butterfly mark from Soi Fon's zanpakto had vanished from my left hand. Apparently, the banoto's area of effect was wide enough to cover the whole battlefield. It was a good thing my kido gun didn't rely on my own spirit energy.

I pulled the trigger and a bright pink orb of energy shot at Shuske. He raised his zanpakto and blocked with his guard. My shot was the starting gun. Sloth and Ichigo both rushed at the traitor with Ichigo activating his bankai.

Ichigo seemed unaffected by the bakoto, and from the fact that I could still feel m own spirit energy, if slightly diminished, I guessed that our hollow powers made it less effective. I tried to flash step to get in a better firing position with my kido gun, but I couldn't form footholds. That soul reaper power of mine, at least, was sealed. Ichigo experienced no such trouble, engaging Amagai in high speed swordplay.

Sloth's powers weren't based on spirit energy at all, and she stayed on whatever side was opposite Ichigo, hurling her buzz saw like yo-yos and forcing Amagai to divide his attention with this attack on two fronts. In response, he transformed his bakoto, causing the sash to retract and run along his right arm. The gauntlet took on the appearance of a multi-eyed dragon head and a glowing green blade of spirit energy extended from its mouth. Amagai fought off Ichigo with his bakoto and fired balls and blasts of fire from the oversized zanpkato in his left hand.

Ichigo donned his hollow mask to add to the pressure he and Sloth were putting Amagai under. They were all moving too fast for me to get a bead on with my kido gun. As I watched, however, a blast of flame came out of Amagai's zanpakto headed for Rukia, Kenryu, and Enryu. I donned my hollow mask and ran toward them.

I still couldn't use flash step, but maybe Soinido would come to be when I need it like high speed regeneration had. I ran through everything I knew about high speed movement as I desperately tried to outrun the blast and save the three powerless soul reapers. Soinido didn't come to me. Instead, almost by accident, I used the quincy high speed movement technique hirenkyaku.

Hollowfied, my body was durable enough to take the flame blast with only superficial damage. It shouldn't have been possible for me to use hirenkyaku to interpose my body and save them. I had left my quincy bangle in the world of the living with my homunculus self. I'd think about it later.

For now, I had to use every tool at my disposal to protect the three of them while Sloth and Ichigo dealt with Amagai. I tossed my kido gun to Rukia. She caught it and looked up at me curiously.

"His bakoto can't neutralize my hollow powers," I said. "If you can get a clear shot, use the kido gun. I'll try and nail him with a cero."

"Right," said Rukia, awkwardly getting the unfamiliar weapon into a firing position.

An opening came when Amagai stabbed his zanpakto into the ground in order to attack Ichigo and Sloth with unpredictable geysers of fire. Rukia fired and missed. My cero hit home, damaging his bakoto and forcing him to end his attack on Ichigo and Sloth. The two of them, in turn took advantage of that opening, with Ichigo launching a getsuga tensho and Sloth wrapping the blade of Amagai's zanpakto with one of her yo-yos to pin him in place.

When the dust cleared, Amagai's eyes and mouth had golden light pouring from them like the assassin had right before his bakoto consumed him. The boost to his spirit energy let him fire off a blast that shattered my hollow mask as I shielded Rukia, Kenryu and Enryu, broke off half of Ichigo's mask, and forced Sloth to burn enough power shielding herself that I could see her Soul Gem dim from where I was standing.

"Why hasn't his bakoto consumed him?" asked Rukia.

"I'm able to suppress it with my spirit energy," boasted Amagai. "And it hasn't grown an inch."

With high enough spirit energy, bakoto could be used safely. I filed that fact away for later. Sloth had to tag out or risk becoming a witch. Ichigo was still confident. This wasn't the power that had destroyed the cleaner in the precipice world. My guess was he was shunting that extra power into keeping our soul reaper powers suppressed.

I reformed my mask as Sloth got behind me. I needn't have bothered. Ichigo's next attack hit so hard, Amagai's zanpakto involuntarily returned to its sealed state. His bakoto, already damaged by my cero, was cut clean through by Ichigo. I could feel my soul reaper powers welling back up inside me.

Just when we thought he was done, however, Amagai gripped his sealed zanpakto and lunged at Yamamoto impaling him through the stomach. Yamamoto had his spirit energy back, so the only conclusion I could come to was that Yamamoto let him do it. I'd just processed that when Yoruichi arrived on the scene in human form.

"Shuske, the head captain isn't the one who caused the death of your father," said Yoruichi, getting Amagai's attention. "Certainly your father was a victim, but his life was completely consumed by the bakoto. As you know, in the Kasomioji clan at that time, Gyokaku Kumoi began misusing the clan's special techniques for the casting of royal swords. He exploited their ancient secrets in order to develop the bakoto, then using his prototypes, he began doing experiments with them involving test subjects.

"When the head captain became aware of Kumoi's activities, he attempted to intercede, but he was overruled by Central 46. The Kasomioji clan used their immunity extraterritoriality as a shield so he was denied the chance to scrutinize Kumoi any further, however... Sinetsu Kisaraki. At that time, your father was the head captain's subordinate and an outstanding and trustworthy student. And so, Head Captain Yamamoto ordered him in the utmost secrecy to conduct a covert investigation, but sadly, he was captured, forcibly bonded with a prototype bakoto, and sent after the head captain.

"Due to the sensitivity of the matter, no one involved ever revealed the truth about Sinetsu's death. The bakoto was kept secret, as was its under over investigation which defied Central 46's orders."

Amagai was horrified. "So then, he killed my father because... Then I- I was consumed by hate. My anger blinded me so I couldn't see through to the truth."

"Everything that you are," said Yoruichi, "and even your destiny itself have been swallowed whole by the bakoto."

"I still regret what I did," said Yamamoto, showing no sign of pain from his impalement, only a deep sadness. "So, you are Shinetsu's son. You are a lot like him."

Anguished by these latest revelations, Amagai dropped to his knees and said, "Head Captain,sir, in all of this, I was a shallow fool, wasn't I?"

"You need not be ashamed, son," said Yamamoto compassionately. "Forgive me that I lack the ability to save you and your father's life."

Amagai stood, a determined look on his face, and plunged his zanpakto into the ground at his feet. A ring of flames rose up around him. "Tell Izuru I'm sorry I dragged him into such a selfish personal matter. I spent the best times of my life with him and the squad. Goodbye." The flames rose up, and Shuske Amagai immolated himself.

With my powers back, a simple flame freezing charm could have saved him, and if he'd limited his quest for vengeance to Kumoi and Yamamoto, I'd have done so in a heartbeat. As it stood, he'd ordered the death of Rurichio, a girl who's only connection to his personal tragedy was having been born into the Kasomioji clan. She bore no responsibility for events she had no control over, and it was impossible for Amagai to have assumed she did. So I watched him burn. As the wind took hold of the ashes, I wordlessly summoned a handful of ash into one of my belt pouches for later.

* * *

Yamamoto was surprisingly understanding about the hollow masks. He made a point to let the other members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads know that they shouldn't be concerned if they see Ichigo Kurosaki or Greed, the commander of the Rukon militia hollowfy.

"Greed?" I asked, keeping any trace of fear or nervousness out of my voice.

"Some of the techniques I have seen you use are unique in all the Soul Society," said Yamamoto seriously. "These were techniques my former subordinate never had time to teach the members of his own squad. Apparently he did teach you. Am I incorrect in assuming the master can do anything his apprentice can?"

"No, you are correct," I said.

"It is fortunate he sent such a talented subordinate," mused Yamamoto. "Central 46 would be most displeased if he had come himself. They may even have issued an execution order which I would be obligated to carry out."

"I understand," I said. "Thank you."

It was strange seeing a stickler for the rules accept a pretext for looking the other way. I'd had Yamamoto pegged as a man like the Swarm Alchemist, my former commanding officer, who'd tried very hard to kill me for breaking the human transmutation taboo and who didn't give up until I'd gotten a full pardon with every i dotted and every t crossed. I'd misjudged the old man, and had never been happier to be wrong about someone. I was wiping tears away as we left the Seireitei.

I'd set up an hourly portkey between the west gate district and Kusajishi. The portkey I'd used took the form of a large hoop, three meters in diameter. Rukia, Ichigo, Kenryu, Enryu, Sloth, and I all waited for the hour. While we waited, i restored my normal appearance. When it was time, all six of us grabbed the large hoop and I counted down. Right on time, the portkey activated, bringing us to Kusajishi where Kenryu and Enryu were reunited with Rurihio, who had been waiting by the portkey with Shu.

Rurichio intended to step up as the matriarch of the Kasomioji clan once the Thirteen Court Guard Squads finished cleaning out the rogue members. There would be a long, difficult period of rebuilding and regaining the trust of those within the Seireitei, and Rurichio took the responsibility seriously. Her fiance Shu and her guardians Kenryu and Enryu would stand with her in this, an the rest ofusoffered her our support as well. She promised that she wouldn't let the Kasomioji's problems get to the point where we would need to intervene again.

After sending the nobles, including Rukia, off back to the Seireitei, Ichigo, Sloth, and I used the senkaimon Koga summoned to return to the world of the living. Once we got back, we let the others know what had happened in the Soul Society, and that these latest troubles were over.

* * *

Once we'd merged back with our homunculus selves, Sloth and I returned to the mansion. I led her past our soul reaper house guests and down to the basement lab. Once we were safely behind the protective wards, I poured the ashes I'd collected onto a tray on one of the counter top work spaces.

"So, how illegal is what you're about to do?" asked Sloth, recognizing my body language.

"Pretty illegal," I said as I formed a cubic barrier of yellow spirit energy around the work space. "It's also our only real option for defending ourselves against Aizen's zanpakto."

My space time reversion kido did its work on the ash from Amagai's bakoto. It reformed into a tuning fork shaped sword with a wrapped hilt. The organic component was mostly concealed within the round hilt, with the yellow, eye like core poking out at the end of a short, pink tentacle.

"Aizen has a hogyoku," Sloth reminded me. "This won't help anything if he's hollowfied himself."

"Kiske thinks he won't," I said, examining the blade. "Even if he does, Ichigo and I were effected differently. I'll take even a chance to break Kyokasuigetsu's illusions over what we've got now."

"Then we'll just have to deal with his army of arancars without any help from the soul reapers," said Sloth. "You should probably find out how it effects the other Visoreds."

"It's on my to do list," I said as I carefully lifted the bakoto. "I'll need to practice using it anyway. I also want to try and teach the others how to use high speed regeneration."

"You figured it out?" asked Sloth excitedly.

"Yeah, when I was fighting Soi Fon," I said. "Lost both arms in that fight. Had to grow them back if I was going to get out of that in any condition to help."

"Nice," said Sloth. "It's not homunculus level, regrow your own head and come back from being a pile of ashes level, but it's got to feel good knowing you aren't going to get crippled in spirit form even temporarily."

"Better," I said, "high speed regeneration doesn't hurt the way Mayuri's serum does. I have a high pain tolerance, but that doesn't mean I'm not glad to avoid it when that's an option."

"Amagai had a cap he used to cover the bakoto core," said Sloth, clap transmuting the object she'd seen.

I converted the metal cap into spirit particles and put hte cap onto my new bakoto. Like I had with the other bakotos, I broke the blade and replicated a backup using my space time reversion kido to reject the damage to both halves.

"There's one more thing I learned fighting Amagai," I said. "The vaccine Kiske used to stabilize my hollowfication was made with quincy arrows. I used hirenkyaku without the bangle."

"You've got quincy powers?" said Sloth, surprised.

"I think so," I said. "I'll have to talk to Soken about the implications. The other Visoreds probably have the same potential. Even if he doesn't want to teach them, Kiske's process might make rebuilding the quincies possible."

"It sounds like you've got a big day tomorrow," said Sloth. "We should get dinner then head up to our room."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Author's comments:  
Soi Fon is my favorite captain. I don't have much opportunity to show her in action being her bad ass self, so it was a treat to write her kicking Greed's ass a few power ups after he killed Mayuri.


	41. Chapter 48: Resureccion

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 48) Resureccion  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Various divination methods indicated it would be a few days before the next crisis arose, and I was determined to make the most of that time. My fight with Soi Fon had drawn my attention to a number of glaring flaws in my hand to hand combat skills which I put work into correcting, both with muggle trainers in the world of the living and practicing on my own on the estate grounds. The soul reaper house guests took advantage of the chance to get some training of their own in, though none could keep pace with my unnatural stamina.

Soken Ishida was surprised at my announcement that I'd managed to use quincy powers without the bangle. Giving me a standard quincy cross, he took me through the first lessons about gathering spirit particles and forming a bow again. This time, I succeeded in making a glowing blue construct. I was still a long way form making a functional bow unaided, but now I could start the process.

After I explained my theory about how it happened, the old quincy master asked that I not share this possibility with the soul reapers or the Visoreds. He intended to speak with Kiske about the process directly. I agreed to keep quiet. Given that Mayuri was still a soul reaper captain, it was a perfectly reasonable request.

There were plenty of other things I wanted to talk to the Visoreds about. I showed up at the warehouse in spirit form carrying a large stack of pizza boxes. I'd gotten everyone their favorite.

"That had better not be more of your reprocessed garbage," said Lisa glancing up from her pornographic manga.

"I got it at the usual place," I said, rolling my eyes and showing off the logo on the top box. "I still think you guys are being ridiculous. Transmuting raw sewage into food is just a faster, more efficient version of where food comes from naturally."

Love put a hand on my shoulder, took his pizza, and said, "Give it up. You're not gonna win this one."

"I still don't understand why someone with all the money in the world would want to eat like that," said Rose.

"I have all that money because I'm al alchemist, and being an alchemist means understanding there's no difference between normal food and transmuted garbage," I said as I handed out boxes.

"Speaking of which, you didn't just put the logo on the boxes to trick us, did you?" asked Mashiro suspiciously.

"If I did, you'd never know it. That's my entire point," I replied.

"You did! You did, didn't you!" whined Mashiro.

"He already said he got it from the usual place," said Kensai. "Stop whining and eat."

"Oh, you got my toppings right," said Shinji.

"Did you get one for Ichigo?" asked Hadji.

"It'd be cold by the time he gets here," I said. "I'll just make another run closer to time."

"I hear you've been busy sucking up to the Soul Society nobles," said Hyori once she had her pizza.

"I've got some good news there," I said. "A lot of it. I think we're going to want the barrier reinforced before I get into it, though."

Hadji made some hand signs and I felt the barrier around the warehouse strengthen. Then he grabbed another slice of pizza and nodded.

"It turns out the stuff with the nobles was all part of a plot to assassinate Yamamoto."

"Was there anything left of the assassins after the old man was through with them?" asked Kensai.

"The assassin had an illegal weapon called a bakoto that nullifies the soul reaper powers of everyone but its wielder," I said. "Yamamoto would have died if Ichigo and I hadn't used our hollow powers to step in and save him."

"Why'd you bother?" asked Hyori with a huff.

"He wasn't a completely ungrateful bastard," I said. "He spread the word about Ichigo's and my hollowfication and said we weren't to be considered enemies."

"The old man won't go against an order from Central 46," said Shinji. "It's nice that you two aren't going to get an execution order... yet... but it doesn't really help the rest of us."

"I'm not sure this was really worth strengthening the barrier over," said Hadji.

I smirked. "That was just the backstory. The reason I wanted the barrier strengthened was so no one else would find out I recovered the assassin's weapon."

"What are you saying?" asked Shinji as everyone stopped eating.

I took the tuning fork-like short sword out of a pouch on my utility belt. "This weapon neutralizes the powers of soul reapers, like, say, Kyoka Suigetsu's Complete Hypnosis. Now, Ichigo and I were effected differently. He could still use flash step and his bankai even without his mask on, while I couldn't use flash step even after I put mine on. I'd like to see how it effects the rest of you to get a feel for what to expect if Aizen has used the hogyoku to hollowfy himself and to work out a strategy for using the bakoto against him."

"It'd also be a nice trump card in case the Soul Society decides to come after us again," said Shinji.

"I brought enough for everyone," I said, taking out additional copies of the bakoto. "We're going to need to train with them. They're spirit energy consuming parasites that'll drain you to death if you're not careful."

"You do deliver when you say you've got good news," said Love, impressed.

"I've got more," I said. "I figured out high speed regeneration."

Chopping off their legs and firing ceros at them while they had their masks on proved a pretty effective way of bringing out their high speed regeneration abilities. It was also easy to see why they hadn't tried it before.

In terms of the bakoto, Ichigo turned out to be the odd man out. It left all the rest of us limited to only our hollow powers and unable to release our zanpakto whenever we weren't the one wielding the bakoto. As he was the only one of us who's powers weren't derived from the hogyoku, that seemed like a good sign that even if Aizen hollowfied, he would likely still be vulnerable to the bakoto.

Experimenting with the bakoto, we determined that it had several features and modes of operation. In its tuning fork form, it could fire a massively destructive blast that it took me holding a target wall together with a red stone to stop. A glowing green blade could also be extended from between the prongs that was wielded like a heavy broadsword. Driving this blade into the ground caused it to amplify its wielder's voice and cut through noise. This form still drained the wielder's spirit energy and made it harder to tell just how depleted you were.

Actually merging with the bakoto involved the tentacle in the hilt wrapping around one's forearm and driving smaller tendrils into the skin. The bakoto effectively shut down our sense of pain, but the feeling of tentacles burrowing into my flesh was far from a pleasant one regardless. After burrowing in, the bakoto formed the black scale armor and yellow core sash across its wielder's chest. It was only in this form that it had the power to shut down soul reaper powers.

It was decided that only one of us should use the bakoto at a time, since losing access to much of our spirit energy when someone else's bakoto shut down our soul reaper powers could prove deadly if we were trying to control our own bakoto at the same time.

* * *

After our bakoto training, I asked Hadji to seal me inside a barrier in the Visoreds' underground training area. I donned my mask, sat cross legged, and laid my zanpakto across my lap. Given the consequences if what I was trying to do failed, I didn't dare risk the attempt on my own.

In my inner world, Tsumi no Rensa was holding a stack of books and examining the shelves. The spirit of my zanpakto turned to face me as I approached.

"You haven't come to talk to me here in some time," he said neutrally.

"I've been working on bringing you out into my world," I said.

"Are you going to keep trying now that you have a new weapon who's full powers are available to you right away?"

"Of course I'm still trying," I said earnestly. "The bakoto's just like the kido gun. It's a tool, not a partner. It didn't help me fight for control of my soul. Besides, all those weapons have going for them is destructive power. I know your bankai's going to be more than that."

"I'm glad to hear it," said the spirit, smiling. "What does bring you here?"

"A few things. First off, how do you feel about being a dad?"

"Excuse me?" he asked surprised.

"Living inside my head with nothing to do but read books about me and I can still surprise you," I said smiling. "It's nice to know I'm adding to the library faster than you can chew through it. This place would be a nightmarish prison if there was nothing left to read."

Tsumi no Rensa nodded his head in acknowledgement. "It would be. So, what's this about me becoming a father?"

"Squad 0 makes all the blank zanpaktos that the Thirteen Court Guard Squads use. No one else knows how to forge them. It's a trade secret I can't expect to learn any time soon. The bounts' doll summoning ritual could serve a similar purpose, but a real zanpakto is safer to master, has more powers,and is just overall superior."

"You want to equip the militia, Liore, maybe Hogwarts. I can see why. I'm still not sure about how."

"I take a chip off your blade, then use Hadji's space time reversion kido to repair it into a full copy of you. I keep it under the barrier until it reverts all the way into a blank sword like you were before we bonded."

"I'd be the progenitor of an entire race," mused my sword. "I'm glad you asked me. I'm also glad I get to be a part of this."

"We'll start stocking an armory tomorrow," I said. "There's some more equipment I want to get ready before the next crisis at the same time. I also needed to talk to the others. Are they around?"

Tsumi no Rensa pointed up. I hopped up on top of the bookshelf and saw Vaccine perched atop another bookcase staring into space, his tattered black cloak billowing in a nonexistent breeze. I hopped to an adjacent bookshelf so we could talk.

"So, you're the avatar of my quincy powers," I said.

"I am," he said.

"You've been throwing off my data," I said. "I'm going to need to start over from scratch testing which quincy powers can be learned by anyone with spirit energy and which actually require you to be a quincy."

"You aren't upset," he said with mild amusement in his voice.

"I'm not, but you could have told me sooner," I said. "I did ask you who you were when we met."

"I was your ally against the hollow within. You gave me a name. That was all that needed to be said between us then."

"Still, knowing what my options were in the fight with Amagai would've helped. It was dumb luck that I even tried hirenkyaku. If I hadn't..."

"Then Sloth would have revived the ones you failed to save," finished Vaccine. "The battle with Amagai was only ever about the aftermath."

"I suppose that's true," I acknowledged.

"Know that I will be there to support you when that which you must protect is in danger. I ask only two things in return."

"What's that?" I asked.

"First, never stop growing, getting stronger, gaining power. Second, when the time comes that you learn to draw the avatars of your power into the outside world, call me out from time to time. This world only has grass and trees and animals in descriptions in books. I'd like to spend time under the shade of a tree on a day with a clear blue sky."

"I'll remember," I promised.

"So, are you finally ready for the main reason you came here?" asked my inner hollow. My chalky skinned, black and yellow eyed doppelganger reclined across the top of one of the nearby bookshelves. He was wearing the mask.

"Tsumi no Rensa, Vaccine," I said, and the avatars of my soul reaper and quincy powers were behind me on either side. "I want you both to stay out of this."

"Are you sure?" asked the spirit of my zanpakto.

"We've already proven we can beat him together," I said, keeping my eye on the hollow. "He needs to understand that even without the benefit of your powers and support, fighting one on one with equal power, he's still got no chance against me. Once I beat you, you're going to admit I'm better at using our hollow powers and tell me your name."

"You aren't anywhere near ready for this," declared the hollow, getting to his feet.

I donned my mask and said, "Let's go."

The hollow leapt at me. With flash step and hirenkyaku out as options, there was no dodging him. Instead, I planted one foot on the bookshelf I was standing on and brought the other foot up to meet him. My kick landed square in his masked face, doing minimal damage, but interrupting his jump and causing him to fall to ground level. The shelf I'd been standing on destabilized as well, so I had little choice but to follow him down.

I tried to land on top of him with another kick from above, but he rolled out of the way at the last minute. The ground shook with the force of my stomp. Seeing an opening, the hollow kicked my knew and broke it. I deliberately fell in such a way as to bring my elbow down on his spine.

With our masks on, we both barely registered pain. I rolled off him, regenerating my knee as I went, getting back on my feet the moment I had some distance. He rolled and righted himself as well,then quickly darted around a shelf.

Not inclined to play hide and seek, I hopped back up to the top of the bookshelf. He'd taken advantage of the brief time we were separated to charge up a zero between his palms. Once he spotted me, he aimed at me and released the blast of crimson energy. I crossed my arms in front of me and flared my spirit energy as much as I could in order to reduce the damage.

My injuries weren't server, but I fell to the ground on my back and went limp anyway. The hollow vaulted over the bookcase and came down with a kick aimed at my stomach. Once he was in the air and it was too late to change course, I stopped feigning helplessness, caught the hollow by the ankle, and slammed him face first into the ground. I didn't let go of his ankle, instead giving it a hard twist.

His ankle wouldn't stay broken for long, but it gave me a bit more time to hop another bookshelf and get out of sight under one of the bookshelves that had toppled during our fight.

"Hiding?" demanded the hollow. "I thought you were going to prove you were stronger than me."

His taunt gave me his location. I charged a ball of crimson energy in my right hand a moment before I said, "No. Our strength is identical. I'm proving I'm smarter than you. Cero!"

The hollow hurled himself aside, but between calling out the attack's name to boost its power and concealing the charge up behind the collapsed bookcase, he didn't have time to fully muster his spiritual pressure to shield himself, and he lost his legs. I leapt at him, pinning his arms under my shins while I straddled his chest. I gripped the hollow's throat with my left hand and closed my right fist to deal a finishing blow.

The fangs on my hollow's spider mask drove into my left arm. I felt a burning sensation begin to rapidly spread up my arm toward my heart. The venom was spreading too quickly for me to dare try and finish the hollow off before dealing with it. I tore off the poisoned arm at the shoulder as I leapt to the top of the nearest bookcase.

"How do you expect to prove you're better at using our powers when you don't even know what they are?" taunted the hollow. He charged up a cero while I regenerated my arm.

Before he could unleash his cero, I took off my mask and threw it at him. The mask struck the ball of gathering, unstable energy and detonated it prematurely, taking off the hollow's left arm.

"That charge up time is a weakness," I said as I dropped down on him with a kick extended. I resummoned my mask while I was in the air, and I landed the kick hard enough to break the one remaining arm the hollow got up in time to block it.

I rushed at the hollow with my body low and my arms ready to block a kick. He didn't have much choice but to try for the kick anyway. Predictable as it was, there was plenty of time to focus my spiritual pressure and manage the block itself. I caught his foot and forcibly spun him around, putting his back to me.

His fully regenerated arms weren't much use to him and provided me with better leverage as I brought my arms under his armpits and interlocked my fingers behind his head. He ducked to try and flip me over his shoulder and break the lock, and I didn't fight it, instead focusing on my original goal for the lock. I sank my fangs into my doppelganger's neck.

I slammed into a bookcase upside down from the hollow's throw, but the fight was over. The flesh of his neck was being eaten away by my venom. I got to my feet unmolested.

"You made your point," said the hollow as his body started to liquefy. "You came here for resureccion. Don't screw this up. My name is Araña."

I was awake, still seated cross legged inside Hadji's barrier. I stood up, put my zanpakto on my belt, then touched my fingertips to my mask. I smiled beneath my expressionless spider mask and said, "Weave, Araña!"

My spirit energy swelled and poured off my body in waves. My skin turned chalky white and a black hole opened in the center of my chest. An instant later, I'd taken on the fully hollowfied form I'd seen in recordings. My lower body had been replaced with an eight legged spider body which was colored the same black as the mane of my mask. My humanoid upper body was white with black markings. All eight of the eye holes in my spider mask had eyes in them, giving me a wide field of vision.

"I'm in control," I announced. Then I drew my zanpakto and called out, "Bind, Tsumi no Rensa!" The shikai release succeeded, turning the sword into a length of chain in my hand. There was no problem using both at once.

I resealed my zanpakto and let myself fall out of resureccion. The hollow hole in my chest closed and the rest of the form crumbled away like bits of broken mask. Once out of resureccion, I took off my mask and tried to explain what I'd done to the other Visoreds.

* * *

Mashiro was meditating inside a barrier when Ichigo arrived. She was the only one who could maintain her mask long enough to duplicate my method of achieving resureccion. I had Ichigo's pizza waiting.

"What's going on?" asked Ichigo when he arrived.

"Greed figured out a few new tricks," said Shinji. "Once you've built up your mask time, we'll see about teaching them to you."

"I managed high speed regeneration and resureccion," I said.

"How'd you manage that?" asked Ichigo.

"Getting my ass kicked by Soi Fon helped," I said.

"High speed regeneration would fix a problem with my bankai," noted Ichigo.

"Problem?" I asked.

"When I use bankai, I get a massive boost in speed," said Ichigo. "I was flash stepping around Byakuya like he was standing still."

"I've seen you move terrifyingly fast in bankai," I said.

"I haven't used the full speed of my bankai since the fight with Byakuya," said Ichigo. "Tight turns, starting and stopping, everything you have to do in a fight puts a lot of strain on my body. When I fought Byakuya, my bones were starting to crack. The extra durability I get when hollowfying helps, but if I could heal the damage as fast as it was inflicted, I could fight with my full speed again."

"You know, he only really needs a few seconds of mask time to get high speed regeneration," said Kensai. "It's a pretty quick, either he gets it or he doesn't process unlike with cero or resureccion."

"That settles it," said Hyori, grabbing Ichigo by his collar. "You're learning high speed regeneration today."

Hyori took a sadistic pleasure in chopping off Ichigo's legs and charging up her cero. She hadn't liked the experience one bit when I did it to her, and she was eager to pay it forward. His mask on, Ichigo regenerated his legs and leapt out of the way an instant before the cero hit.

Ichigo certainly wasn't happy about the training method, but it was undeniably effective. Not only did he maser high speed regeneration, but the life or death scenario provoked a noticeable increase in the length of time Ichigo could maintain his mask. He couldn't hold it long enough for cero practice, but it demonstrated Ichigo responded better to harsher methods than the Visoreds had been using with him so far.

* * *

With a full day of training myself and others, including enough time turning that I'd subjectively experienced three days, I settled in at a workstation in my lab and got to making equipment. In addition to producing a few dozen blank zanpaktos, I also put together a tracking device. I'd been called upon so many times to use either Loki's nose or Mayuri's chemical process, that it seemed very likely to come up again soon. The handheld device I created could give an exact distance and direction for any target by inserting as little as a single hair or a drop of blood.

I also got some practice silversmithing. My goal was to create chain mail vests for me, Sloth, and all of our friends out of indestructible soul synthesized silver, but the fact that the individual rings would be indestructible meant I had essentially no room for error in the manufacturing process. It was a tedious process that couldn't be complete before the next crisis without a lot more time turning than I was prepared to do, but hopefully would be done in time for Aizen's next attack.

Sloth had taken my reigai information to Kiske and had the scientist make her a new reigai that would still be able to synchronize with her homunculus body and would hide her not quite spirit energy from detection. If she wanted to be noticed, flaring her aura outside her body was still possible, but this new spiritual body made stealth actually possible for her without resorting to an invisibility cloak.

While Sloth and I worked on our potions and projects in the lab, we caught up about what happened in each other's day. Orihime's poison healing practice was going well under Sloth, to the point that Sloth had expanded the training to include the rejection of dark curses like the sectumsempra spell that it had taken the Soul Society's best healer to fix. The girl continued to succeed.

After hearing about my resureccion, Sloth said, "You're not the only one who learned a new trick today. Let me show you."

Sloth clapped and transmuted a small stuffed bunny toy. She took off her Soul Gem Ring and slid it around the bunny's wrist as a bracelet. Then the bunny got up under its own power, blinked, and turned to face me.

"The body my Soul Gem animates doesn't have to be anything like my human body," said the bunny in Sloth's voice.

"Then, once I take the ring back," said Sloth, demonstrating, "I resynchronize memories with the me in the plushie. It isn't just plushies. It works on animal corpses, suits of armor, basically anything you might imagine is animate and a bunch of stuff you wouldn't. They all get the flamel fingernail marking. I'm pretty sure that serves the same anchoring point function as a blood seal."

"Very nice," I said.

"I can transform and use my yo-yos in those other bodies too, but it looks really silly," added Sloth. "There doesn't seem to be any drop in the effectiveness of my magic when I'm in a plushie like there is for the mod souls."

"You're still limited to two places at once, right?" I confirmed. "Your homunculus body and your Soul Gem."

"Barring something like synchronizing my homunculus body with a blank soul then separating again," confirmed Sloth.

I nodded. "Even with all these distractions, we're making great progress on our powers."

"Not that we're going to need any of them," said Sloth. "Our alchemy's still more than a match for anything sort of Aizen's zanpakto. And with the bakoto, that's not a problem for us anymore either."

"It's only a guaranteed win for us if he really does come to Karakura Town to make the Oken," I said. "Aizen's big on deception. It wouldn't surprise me if defending Karakura town is meant as a distraction to lure out the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. Maybe he has a plan to get his hands on the Oken Yamamoto knows about. If it's in a spirit world, we'll need to be at the top of our game."

"I'd say you were paranoid, but he has been plotting this for over a hundred years," said Sloth. "The method to make a new Oken could be another backup plan like when he grabbed Kiske's hogyoku plans in case he couldn't get the one inside Rukia."

"Or vice versa," I said. "The strong defense we've been putting up against his arancars might convince him fighting us in the world of the living is too big a risk."

"We've got three more crises before Aizen's next move," said Sloth. "I guess we'd better make the most of them."

* * *

Author's comments:  
Ichigo's inconsistent bankai speed needed an explanation, and in keeping with the reveal that his coat is a mana meter, it seemed appropriate that Ichigo knew full well what the issue was. It just hadn't come up in conversation before.


	42. Chapter 49: The Oin and the Twin Zanpakt

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 49) The Oin and the Twin Zanpaktos  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

A few days later, we got a call from Ichigo early in the morning to meet him at Urahara's shop. Sloth and I apparated in while Chad, Orihime, and Uryu used their portkeys. Ichigo and Rukia were already there. We all sat down in the back room with Urahara.

The previous evening had been eventful. An artifact belonging to the Soul Society's royal family called the Oin had been moved for security reasons. Squad 10 was providing security. While the Oin passed through Karakura town, it's procession had been attacked and the Oin had been stolen.

Ichigo had been in the area after the attack and run into Captain Soi Fon of Squad 2 and members of the punishment force. After they explained what had happened and left, Ichigo had found a wounded Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya who was actively avoiding the punishment force. Hitsugaya had been standoffish and secretive. He'd stayed the night at Ichigo's house, but left, still injured, before Ichigo could call Sloth or Orihime to heal him.

Ichigo'd tried to stop Hitsugaya, but they'd been attacked by a pair of arancars which had let Hitsugaya slip away. The arancars were female and looked identical except for the fact that one had blue hair and the other red. Their powers were lightning and fire based respectively. They weren't wearing the uniforms Aizen's arancars wore, and Ichigo suspected they were part of a different faction.

In the Soul Society, Squad 10 had been blamed for losing the Oin and Yamamoto was threatening to shut down the entire squad. Hitsugaya was under suspicion and there was a priority capture order out for him. Rukia had come with Renji to investigate on Lieutenant Rangiku Masumoto's request since she was confined to the barracks with the rest of her squad and couldn't come herself.

Hitsugaya had left his blood stained captain's coat on Ichigo's night stand when he left. Renji had brought it back to the Soul Society and they were no doubt using it to track him at this very moment. The only other clue we had was the name Kusaka, which Hitsugaya had said in his sleep. When Ichigo asked who it was, Hitsugaya said it was someone who'd died.

"Could this be him?" I asked, taking out a photo from my foeglass of a young man with black hair, dark red eyes, and a large burn scar down one side of his face. "I'm pretty sure he's our thief."

"I'll send a copy of this to Renji," said Rukia, taking a picture of my photo with her soul phone's camera. "He's talking to Lieutenant Hinamori to see if she can tell us why Captain Hitsugaya's acting like this."

"In the meantime, we should see about finding Captain Hitsugaya before the punishment force does," said Uryu. "We all know how soul reaper justice is."

"Did you save any part of the bloody coat?" asked Sloth.

"I didn't even think of it," said Ichigo. "He was acting weird, but I didn't think he'd try and run off like that."

"Fortunately, you weren't the only one there," said Uryu, producing a bloody fiber in a small glass tube. "Admittedly, at the time, I thought we might need it to rescue him from the punishment force's custody."

I took out my tracking device and inserted the sample. The handheld device beeped once in acknowledgement then displayed Hitsygaya's location on a small map.

"He doesn't want our help," noted Orihime.

"What he wants is to shoulder whatever burden this is for him all by himself," said Ichigo, frustrated. "He didn't give any thought to all the people he's hurting by not accepting help. Squad 10, Momo, everyone who cares about him."

"We'll beat some sense into him and then find this thief together," I said, getting to my feet.

* * *

We found Hitsugaya unconsious beside a stream not far from a set of railroad tracks. Orihime placed her oval shaped healing barrier over him while he slept, closing the bound in his abdomen and easing his labored breathing. Sloth stared down at him while Orihime worked.

"Kusaka is the guy in the foeglass," she reported. "He's dreaming about him."

"We should make him tell us the rest of what's going on himself," said Ichigo. "Reading his mind might help us catch the thief, but it won't teach him that he shouldn't shut people out like this."

Sloth nodded.

"While we wait for him to wake up," I said, "Rukia, what exactly can you tell us about the Oin that was stolen?"

"Wasn't it in the data you took from Squad 12?" asked Rukia.

"No," I said. "Mayuri didn't have any mention of it in his database. I presume it was classified like the hogyoku was with all information restricted to Central 46's daireisho archives."

"They didn't tell us anything more after it was stolen," said Rukia, "but after Aizen killed Central 46 and tried to steal the hogyoku, there was no talk about disbanding Squad 5 or punishing those who'd served under him. The Oin must be much more dangerous than the Hogyoku."

"They didn't act like that after I rescued Senna either," I noted. "And that had a serious risk of destroying both worlds. What could possibly be more dangerous than that?"

"We should ask Kusaka when we meet him," said Sloth.

Hitsugaya came to, gripping his zanpakto as he realized he wasn't alone.

"Are we going to do this again?" asked Ichigo. "You can't fight us without raising your spirit energy and showing the stealth force and those arancars that're after you exactly where you are."

"How did you find me?" asked the young looking, white haired captain.

"Leaving your haori behind was a mistake," said Uryu.

"What you should have done is accepted our help in this place," said Ichigo. "Tell us what's going on."

"This doesn't concern you," said Hitsugaya firmly. "I appreciate your help, but you should leave now."

"I don't take orders from soul reapers," said Uryu.

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed when he saw we didn't intend to back down. He gripped his zanpakato in both hands and called out, "Reign over the frosted heavens-"

A red bolt of light from my index finger struck Hitsugaya's zanpakto. My unspoken disarming charm caused the sword to fly from his hand before he could finish his release command.

"Let's not," I said as his zanpakto clattered to the ground nearby.

"Are you ready to tell us about Kusaka?" asked Sloth holding up the photo from our foeglass.

"And before you say it doesn't concern us again," I said, "that picture came from our foeglass, which means whatever he's plotting not only concerns us, but he's close to pulling it off."

"Toshiro," said Ichigo, "I used to be just like you. After my mom died, I tried to keep everything inside so I wouldn't burden my dad or my sisters with my problems. All that did was make things worse for them, though, because it hurts when someone you care about is in pain and they won't let you help them."

"Kusaka was my best friend at the academy," said Hitsugaya in a low voice with his eyes downcast. "We were a lot alike, and we were always competing with one another to be the best. We were so much alike that we both achieved shikai at the same time, and both of our swords were Hyonimaru."

"Is that even possible?" asked Rukia. "Two soul reapers wielding the same zanpakto?"

"It isn't unprecidented," said Hitsugaya bitterly.

"They don't make laws against things that are impossible," I said, recalling an obscure law in one of the Soul Society's legal texts I'd assimilated.

Hitsugaya nodded. "Central 46 decreed that there could be only one master of Hyonimaru. I offered to give it up, but we were ordered to duel to determine which one of us was worthy to wield Hyonimaru. They didn't even let it play out. They ordered the stealth force to kill Kusaka during our duel, then they had his name struck from the academy records."

Given everything that had happened, saying it out loud wouldn't help anything, but Aizen had done the world a favor by killing the previous Central 46. If he hadn't, I suspected that hearing this would be the last straw for me before I went and killed them myself.

"I've never told anyone about what happened, not even Momo," said Hitsugaya. "I saw him die. I watched his body fade away into nothingness and I felt his spiritual pressure dissipate. But somehow, he's back. He and the two arancars working under him stole the Oin, and I have to get it back."

"What is the Oin?" asked Orihime.

"The Oin is a Royal Artifact," said Hitsugaya. "I don't know what its powers are, but it looks like an elaborate, rectangular stamp with a raised handle made of gold. It has an internal glow."

"Can I take a look inside your mind at your memory of it?" I asked. When he nodded, I locked eyes wtih him and saw the object in his memory. I stomped my foot and a clump of material was propelled up from the dirt trailing blue alchemic sparks as it transmuted into a solid gold replica of the Oin. I silently added a simple spell to make it glow once it landed in my hand. "This is what we need to get back from Kusaka."

"We don't have any way to find him do we?" said Chad.

"He'll come for me," said Hitsugaya. "His arancars have been watching me since the fight with Ichigo. They must have left to report in when I went to sleep, meaning they cold be back any moment."

"And if they don't know we're here with you, we'll be able to ambush them," said Uryu.

"No," said Sloth. "We don't ambush them until we find Kusaka. We stay under our invisibility cloaks near Toshiro and I'll read the arancars' minds. Once we know where to find Kusaka, then we can take out his arancars."

We disappeared beneath our cloaks and waited. Rukia contacted Renji to let him know about our situation. Hitsugaya led us to a wooden structure in an isolated section of parkland so when things heated up, there wouldn't be any innocent bystanders.

* * *

"We're stealing the Oin, right?" asked Sloth telepathically while we stood guard.

"Obviously," I thought back. "I've got a plan to get the artifact itself without the Soul Society knowing it's missing. I'll need you to dig through Kusaka's mind to figure out what its powers are and how to use it."

"It looks like we might be standing around waiting for a while," thought Sloth. "What is your plan?"

"Well, the Oin apparently spends significant periods fo time hidden away in isolated places behind barriers without the guards so much as laying eyes on it. The fake I just made is a red herring. When they go to take the Oin to its new hiding place, it'll be the real one."

"It was pretty obvious you weren't going to use the fake in any theft plan after making it in front of Rukia, Toshiro, and the others," thought Sloth.

"All I need to do is get my hands on the Oin for long enough to cast a quick spell on it. I'll turn the Oin into a single use, time triggered portkey. Time triggered portkeys don't need anyone touching them to teleport away and the Soul Society's barriers can't do anything to stop portkeys."

"So, it'll disappear from behind its barrier inside its secure hiding place and no one will know until they go to physically check on it. You won't even need to know where the hiding place is, much less go there. I like it."

"The only thing they can do to disrupt a portkey is store it in another world," I noted. "Hueco Mundo would be insane, the precipice world is too unstable, hell strikes me as an even worse idea, and if the royal family were willing to keep their artifacts in the royal realm protected by the Oken, we wouldn't be in this mess. That just leaves the world of the living and the Soul Society. I can set a portkey destination in each world and innocuously pick it up sometime next week in whichever world they hid it in."

"Sounds like you've worked out all the angles," thought Sloth.

"I'm going to rely on you to figure out if its worth the risk stealing in the first place," I thought back. "Like, I don't know, if this seal is the prison for some malevolent being and the only reason anyone would want it was so they could release it and end the world. If it's something useful, game on even if we don't get full instructions on how to use it."

"Got it," replied Sloth. "So, how long do you think we'll have to wait?"

* * *

It was well into the evening when we found out what Kusaka and the arancars had been up to. Byakuya contacted Rukia on her soul phone to inform her that Renji had been killed by Hyonimaru. Renji had been gathering evidence to back up our story and Kusaka had killed him in an attempt to silence him. Sloth resurrected Renji and we gave him an invisibility cloak for the stakeout. It wasn't long after that the arancars arrived to resume their observation of Hitsugaya.

The material in the invisibility cloaks I used to conceal our spirit energy worked both ways, blinding us to the arancars' approach. Sloth was the first to detect them as their minds entered her hundred meter telepathy range.

"The arancars are here, but Kusaka isn't," explained Sloth through our telepathic link. "I'm going to see what I can find in their minds. If they catch me, be ready to take them out."

"Renji," I thought to him, "you didn't come here via senkaimon, so your power limiter isn't in place."

"Right," thought Renji. "Ichigo and I'll open things with our bankais before they know what hit 'em."

"I'll put up a barrier to keep Kusaka from noticing your spirit energies flaring up," I offered.

"I'll take out their weapons as soon as the barrier goes up," thought Orihime. "You won't have to worry about them using resureccion."

"I'll make sure they don't get away," affirmed Uryu.

"Greed," thought Sloth to me alone, "We are definitely stealing the Oin. In its current state, Kusaka's been using it to travel between Hueco Mundo, the Soul Society, and the world of the living instantly. If someone with a bankai cuts it, they gain absolute control over space, time, matter, and energy. That includes spiritual matter. It basically makes them a god."

"I haven't been a man of faith in a long time," I thought to her. "I don't even know what the word god means anymore. Still, with those operating instructions, I presume Kusaka doesn't have bankai."

"He doesn't," thought Sloth. "His old pal Toshiro does, though. He's trying to isolate Toshiro from the Soul Society and then convince him to cut Oin. He gets his best friend back, makes him all powerful, and they team up to get revenge on the Soul Society."

"If Toshiro plays along, Kusaka will just give him the Oin," I thought.

"Either way, I've got Kusaka's position. You should take out the arancars first so they can't back him up when we go meet him."

"Are they close enough to hear a chant?" I asked.

"Go ahead. I'll make sure the timing works out right," thought Sloth.

I needed to practice casting spells using hand signs. They served the same purpose as a chant, being effectively a sign language version of chanting, but that method carried no risk of being overheard. For now, I kept my voice low as I spoke the words to enhance and reinforce my barrier spell. When I spoke the final word and released the gathered energy, the barrier snapped into existence. At the same time, I heard two people call out, "bankai!"

Ichigo and Renji threw open their cloaks as the spiritual pressure swelled so rapidly the structure we were in exploded into splinters. The arancars' eyes widened in surprise as Orihime's rika Tsubaki streaked out from the rubble, destroying their weapons. Ichigo's bankai, Tensa Zangetsu resolved itself into a tight black coat and a slender black sword with a swastika shaped cross guard and a short length of chain for a hilt tassel. Renji's bankai, Hihio Zabamaru, resolved itself into a gigantic skeletal snake with a red mane. He wielded it by gripping a hilt at the end of its tail. The vertebrae were connected by red strands of spirit energy.

The arancars, seeing our coordinated attack, summoned a few hundred hollows using a technique similar to using hollow bait. The causality was probably the other way around with hollow bait being designed to mimic powers like this. That was academic at the moment. I rushed to Uryu urgently.

"Can you shoot to wound on those hollows?" I asked. "Take out their limbs so we can finish them off with a zanpakto? Please."

Uryu smirked and said, "My bow can fire 1200 arrows a second with more than enough accuracy for that. Allow me to demonstrate."

As a rain of luminous blue quincy arrows cut through the mass of hollows, cleaving off limbs but avoiding kill shots every time in an unreal show of skill and precision, I expelled my soul with my substitute badge, drew my zanpakto, and got to work.

"Bind, Tsumi no Rensa!"

"Dance, Sode no Shirayki!"

"Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyonimaru!"

Rukia and Hitsugaya froze large groups of hollows with their zanpaktos. I twirled Tsumi no Rensa over my head, unlinking and readding links at the far end, letting my weapon act as a combination of sling and machine gun. I didn't have anywhere near Uryu's accuracy, but in an environment this target rich, every link I launched punched through something vital on one of the wounded hollows, killing them instantly.

Chad was in the air backing Ichigo up. His speed was nowhere near Ichigo's, but he was faster than the arancar's soinido, letting him put pressure on her while Ichigo circled in for the kill. Renji's enormous bankai was surprisingly fast itself, and was capable of short bursts of speed well above flash step when it struck. Working together, they made short work of the arancars.

* * *

Beneath invisibility cloaks, we followed Toshiro as he made his way to an empty factory Kusaka was using as a hideout. The mastermind behind this was wearing a white mask that resembled a hollow mask, but his eyes lacked the yellow iris and black skelera that were characteristic of a Visored using hollowfication. He was just using it to try and hide his identity.

"I'm impressed you found me so quickly," said Kusaka. "You really are a genius, Toshiro."

"Kusaka," said Toshiro.

"I stabbed you with Hyonimaru so you'd know it was me," said Kusaka removing his mask. "What better way to prove to you that I was still alive?"

"Where is the Oin?" asked Hitsugaya.

"I have it right here," said Kusaka, holding up the glowing gold seal.

"Expeliarmus!" screamed Sloth, throwing open her invisibility cloak and striking Kusaka with a bolt of crimson light from her ruby tipped golden rod. The Oin flew from Kusaka's hand.

"Bakudo 1: Sai!" called out Rukia, holding up two fingers and binding Kusaka's hands behind his back.

I dropped my fake Oin and summoned the real one wordlessly. It disappeared under my cloak at almost the same instant my fake clattered to the floor. Under cover of my invisibility cloak, I quickly cast two portkey spells on the Oin. Its golden glow was tinged with blue for the brief moments my spells took effect.

Kusaka broke free from Rukia's kido and dove for the fake Oin on the floor. He scooped it up and rolled to his feet, drawing his zanpakto as he went. I put the real Oin in a belt pouch and opened my cloak.

"You won't be able to use that to escape,," I said. "I've warded the area."

"Drop the sword," ordered Renji. "I'm not in any mood to let you kill me again."

"The light of the Oin turned back time and reversed my death," said Kusaka, shocked. "How did you come back?"

Ichigo struck Kusaka's sword and knocked it from his hand as he revealed himself. "We'll talk once you're not fighting us anymore."

"No," said Hitsugaya, picking up Kusaka's sword. "By stealing the Oin, Kusaka committed a crime worthy of execution. Capturing him alive isn't doing him any favors."

"Toshiro," said Kusaka, "you know what the soul reapers are, the kinds of things they do. Yet you stayed with them. Why? Was it that friend of yours?"

"Momo has nothing to do with this," said Toshiro. He tossed Kusaka's sword back to him and said, "Central 46 interfered with our duel last time. I'd like the rest of you to stay back and guard the exits. Please, let me finish this on my own."

We complied, backing off and taking up positions surrounding the two former friends. Both raised their zanpaktos and stared one another down. Then Kusaka held up the fake Oin.

"Cutting this with a bankai is the only way to release its full power, but even without a bankai, its power is more than enough!" Kusaka cut the gold seal in two. The illumination spell I'd cast on it faded away and the two lumps of worthless gold clattered to the floor.

"That Oin's a fake," I said. "You aren't going to be able to cheat in this duel."

"Are you ready?" asked Hitsugaya.

The two wielders of Hyonimaru attacked one another. Massive ice dragons flew from both blades as the two men tried to freeze one another. Kusaka didn't have the disadvantage of being under a power limiter that sealed eighty percent of his strength, but Hitsugaya had both bankai and years of additional training and experience. If the outcome had been in question, Toshiro wouldn't have chosen to end it this way.

When Kusaka was dead, I took out the real Oin and handed it to Toshiro. Renji said, "Lieutenant Masumoto has your haori waiting for you back in the Soul Society."

"Thank you," said Toshiro.

"You're welcome, Toshiro," said Ichigo.

Toshiro smiled and said, "That's Captain Hitsugaya."

* * *

"So, when does the Oin show up?" asked Sloth when we were back home and in the privacy of our bedroom suite.

"The details you got on how to use it made me change my mind," I said. "Achieving bankai is the work of ten years of training. If it showed up next week, there'd be nothing we could do with the thing. Plus, it'd point suspicions our way."

"So, it won't be here for ten years?" asked Sloth.

"One year," I said. "More specifically, it'll show up one year from the day Kusaka initially stole it. If we wait the full ten years, it'll again point to us as the culprits. Besides, one year means that if the Soul Society decides it needs to use the Oin against Aizen, they'll have the chance."

"I guess that makes sense," said Sloth. "Too bad about what happened to Kusaka. He had every reason to be pissed at the Soul Society."

"So did the bounts," I said. "And Tosen. You could argue Amagai too. The Soul Society just generally sucks. The fact that we have friends there doesn't really change the fact that their government makes the Ministry of Magic look benevolent and competent.

"It feels like there's something inherently corrupting about maintaining a masquerade," I mused.

"Back home, the ones who knew about homunculi and kept it hidden were always the biggest problem," said Sloth.

"Only two more crises until Aizen," I said. "Then two after. After that, we'll have some relatively quiet time to consolidate."

"At least a year," confirmed Sloth. "Do you think we'll be able to get the Soul Society going in the right direction by the time we get the Oin?"

"If not, we'll be able to use it to force the issue, I said. "By that time we'll have a better idea what direction we want things to go in."

* * *

Author's comments:  
Renji died because he was the one doing most of the direct legwork on investigating Kusaka. Captain Kyoraku didn't need to get involved in this slightly altered timeline due to the foeglass and the tracking device, and Renji is a lot less durable than Kyoraku.


	43. Chapter 50: Rukia's Children

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 50) Rukia's Children  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Over the next few days, things were relatively calm. Ganju joining up with the militia led other people with spirit energy to choose the militia over the soul reapers. I distributed zanpaktos and provided basic zanjutsu training to those recruits with the necessary spirit energy to bond with them.

The Rukon district was home to plenty of people without spirit energy who had experience teaching martial arts and swordsmanship, and hiring them on as instructors was a straightforward process. That let me focus on teaching about the process of communicating and bonding with the sword's spirit.

Meanwhile, a number of souls who had been working in high tech industries before their deaths had begun using the plans in the database I took from Squad 12 to start manufacturing various devices. Most significant was the communications equipment. They weren't limiting their ambitions to making soul phones ubiquitous in the Rukon district, but they were designing high capacity data hubs that would serve as the backbone of a distributed computer network.

Construction and textile industries were already booming in areas where the militia was keeping the peace. Districts previously too poor to have a single pair of shoes in the entire area were getting schools, clothing stores, cobblers, and doctors offices opening up. I may not have been proud of propping up the Seireitei's poor excuse for a government, but I was incredibly proud of how the Rukon District was blooming thanks to my efforts.

I woke up one morning after having expanded the portkey networks to include some of the smaller towns. I reached over onto my nightstand and picked up a small glass ball. For the first time since I'd established the habit of checking the remembral every morning, the magical device glowed. I'd forgotten something and I was willing to bet the pale skinned, dark haired boy and the blond girl shown in my foeglass had something to do with it.

"Greed, are you okay?" asked Sloth, concerned as she saw me holding the glowing remembral. Her own remembral was dark.

"I'm not sure," I said. "The one problem with this thing is it'll tell you that you forgot something, but it won't tell you what."

"Let's start with the important stuff," said Sloth. "Do you remember me?"

I nodded. "You're my wife, Sloth. You were created as a homunculus replacement for Nina Tucker after her father's alchemy experiments led to her death. We fought each other as enemies until the day we rescued each other from Shao Tucker's lab. We've traveled the multiverse together. In the last world we visited, an evil alien being altered you and you've only recently gotten most of the way back to normal."

"I don't see any obvious gaps there," said Sloth. "Let me take a look inside your mind more directly."

"All right," I said and consciously lowered my occlumency barriers, letting Sloth into my mind deeper than she'd ever been.

The memories Sloth touched with her legelimency flashed before my mind's eye. There was nothing unusual about most of my memories, but once I got to this world, they became a jumble. It was as if something vital to understanding my experiences in this world had been cut out of my memory leaving the rest nonsensical gibberish. It soon became clear I had no idea when or how Sloth had been restored, or even where the room we were currently in was.

"Okay, your memory of this world looks like Swiss cheese," said Sloth.

"Nothing's wrong with my alchemy knowledge, right?" I confirmed.

"I don't think so," said Sloth.

"Then step one is to get my memories back. After that, we'll figure out what happened."

I clapped my hands and summoned the Gate. An enormous set of double doors engraved with a stylized eye and bordered by humanoid figures appeared before me. The Gate opened, revealing hundreds of purple, slitted eyes in an amorphous mass of blackness. Tiny hands at the ends of shadowy black tentacles reached out for me.

I'd done this countless times, and always within the Gate, all of the knowledge in the universe forced itself before my mind's eye, and this time was no exception. My finite mind could only ever retain the tiniest fragment of the infinite knowledge it was exposed to, just those bits I had enough to context to latch on to with something I already knew. I smiled, clapped my hands, and deconstructed the shadowy limbs of the imp like creatures I called the Gate Children as they reached out and tried to tear way my limbs and organs. The remaining limbs pulled back. The Gate swung shut, then vanished.

"Rukia," I said when it was over. "I was right. The Gate filled in the holes in my memory. Somehow, every memory connected to Rukia was effected."

"What could cause that?" asked Sloth.

"I don't know," I said. "This is pretty similar to what was supposed to happen when Senna died. All memory of her would fade from everyone's mind, but Rukia isn't a shinenju."

"And so far, you're the only one effected," pointed out Sloth.

At that point, my soul phone rang. It was Tatski.

"Hello?" I said, picking it up.

"Who is this?" asked Tatski.

"This is Greed," I said.

"I have a note on my nightstand that says if the glass ball on top of it glows when I touch it, it means I've lost my memory and I should call you. It's in my handwriting, and I don't remember writing it."

"Does the name Rukia Kuchki mean anything to you?" I asked.

"No. Should it?" replied Tatski.

"Rukia's a friend of yours," I said. "Something's happened to erase your memory of her before. That's why you set up that note."

"And how do you fit into this, whoever you are?"

"I'm a friend of both you and Rukia," I said. "I made the ball."

"What do we do next?" asked Tatski.

"Sloth and I will come over and try to help you remember what you've forgotten."

"What about Rukia?" asked Tatski. "Is she alright?"

"I don't know," I said.

"Then... maybe you should make sure she's all right before you come here," said Tatski.

"All right," I said. "I will."

I hung up and called Rukia's soul phone. I couldn't get an answer.

"This is just like the shinenju thing," I said. "Tatski doesn't even remember me because I met her through Rukia."

Sloth held out her Soul Gem for a moment before reporting, "Rukia's not dead. I think she was staying at Ichigo's place. Try calling him."

I nodded, made the call, and heard Ichigo pick up on the other end.

"Greed, what is it?" asked Ichigo.

"You remember me? What about Rukia? Do you remember her?" I asked.

"What do you mean do I remember her?" asked Ichigo. "What's going on?"

"Sometime last night, while I was behind several layers of protective barriers, all memories relating to Rukia Kuchki were removed from my mind," I explained. "The same thing happened to Tatski. Sloth seems to have been unaffected."

"I forgot about her for a minute when I woke up," said Ichigo. "Kon remembered her and jogged my memory. Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"All I have are the faces of the people responsible," I said. "Is Rukia there with you?"

"No," said Ichigo. "She left a note saying she had to head back to the Soul Society. I'm going to see what Kiske knows. Can you meet me there?"

"We're on our way now," I said, hanging up the phone. Then to Sloth, "We're meeting Ichigo at Kiske's so we can compare notes."

* * *

As it turned out, Kiske, Tessai, Yoruichi, Jinta, and Ururu didn't recognize Ichigo, Kon, Sloth, and I either, but Ririn, Kurodo, and Noba did. Due to the timing, Kiske offered his suspicions that this was somehow connected to an incident that had happened in the Soul Society the previous night. Mayuri Kurotsuchi had snapped, destroyed his lab, and unleashed a dangerous phenomenon that had rapidly covered a third of the Seireitei. Squad 4 was triaging the people who'd been effected, but so far they couldn't tell if the victims were alive or dead. Mayuri had been taken into custody.

"Kiske," said Ichigo, "we need you to open the senkaimon for us. We have to find Rukia."

"Very well. Come with me," said Kiske and he led us downstairs to where he kept his senkaimon.

The urgency of our task meant there was no time to prepare the senkaimon to transport matter, so Sloth, Ichigo, and I headed through in spirit form. Kon's stuffed animal body was much simpler to convert into spirit particles than a living body would be, so Kiske was able to allow him to come through with us. Trusting our souls to handle it, Sloth and I in our homunculus forms headed out to find Tatski and fill her in on what was going on.

* * *

There were two noteworthy aspects about the senkaimon Kiske used to send us. First, it didn't rely on the main senkaimon which had wards emplaced to keep banished soul reapers like me and Kiske out. Second, the portal itself opened inside the dome of the Seireitei itself unlike when we'd initially gone to rescue Rukia from her execution. The fact that the portal opened thirty stories off the ground was pretty typical for one of Kiske's senkaimons.

I'd expected to be dropped off in the Rukon District so I hadn't yet applied my disguise. Seeing the level of devastation in the Seireitei made it pretty clear being recognized was the least of my worries. Enormous tracts of the massive city were covered with what looked like frozen slush. Soul reapers were just barely visible, held immobile under the thinner sections of crystal.

"They're still alive," said Sloth extending her palm toward one of the trapped soul reapers.

I drew my zanpakto and tossed Sloth the Marauder's Map of the Seireitei, saying, "I'll start vanishing this stuff. You see if Rukia's anywhere in the Seireitei."

Slashing Tsumi no Rensa above one of the trapped soul reapers, I firmly said, "Evanesco!" The crystal imprisoning the group of soul reapers nearest me vanished. They gasped then got to their feet seemingly unharmed by their extended period deprived of food, water, and air.

"Rukia's close," said Sloth. "Follow me."

Ichigo scooped up Kon and the three of us flash stepped to the roof of a nearby building. There, we saw Rukia, unconscious, being carried under the arm of the thin, pale boy from my foeglass. He and the tall, blond girl with pale green eyes and a red streak in her hair were barefoot and dressed in rags. In the arm that didn't hold Rukia, the boy held a large scythe. The blade was blood red and razor sharp while the handle was bone white. The handle split and branched where it met the blade like a tree or like blood vessels. Hanging from one of those branches was a vial about the size of a fist.

"Rukia!" exclaimed Ichigo on sighting her. He dropped Kon and drew his zanpakto demanding, "What have you done to her?"

"A soul reaper?" said the girl angrily. "We won't let you take Rukia away from us again!"

I tensed as the boy's vial glowed. An orb of milky white liquid appeared nearby, crackling with electricity. The boy and girl apparated away, taking Rukia with them. The instant they were gone, the orb shifted and took the form of an enormous snake lunging at us.

"Stop!" both Sloth and I hissed at the same time in parceltongue and the snake halted its strike. A moment later its body hardened and crystallized into the same substance that was covering the Seireitei.

"Where'd they go?" asked Ichigo.

Before anyone could answer, a pair of the snake creatures appeared near the outer gate and rammed it along with the soul reapers standing guard. Spirit energy couldn't damage the sekiseki stone wall or gate, but pure physical force could and the mass of the ramming liquid snakes was more than sufficient. After crashing, the snakes lost cohesion and hardened in a slash shape that would render repairing the damaged gate difficult.

We flash stepped to the gate just in time to see the boy and girl carry Rukia through it into the Rukon District and apparate away.

"Hold it right there!" ordered Lieutenant Shuhei Hisaki of Squad 9. Kaname Tosen's former lieutenant had modified his soul reaper uniform, removing the sleeves to show off his arms. He had black hair and a number of facial tattoos, most notably the number 69 on one of his cheeks.

"We're kind of in a hurry, Shuhei," said Ichigo. "We'll be back to help out once Rukia's safe. Sloth, Greed, can you track them?"

"You arne't going anywhere," declared Shuhei, drawing his zanpakto. "Drop your weapons and come with me."

"He doesn't remember us," said Sloth. "Show him your badges."

"That's right," said Ichigo, holding up his combat pass. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute soul reaper."

I dropped to one knee, sheathed my weapon, held up my badge, and said, "Greed, ditto." Then I drew a circle in black ink.

"Substitute soul reapers?" asked Shuhei. "I've never heard of anything like that."

"Why did Joshiro even tell us these things could be used for identification if no one from the Soul Society recognizes them?" asked Ichigo frustrated.

Shuhei rushed me to try to interrupt my tracking spell. Ichigo's zanpakto, Zangetsu, blocked Shuhei's strike. I didn't let it break my concentration. Tracking Rukia's spirit energy this way would mean not needing to break into the Kuchki estate to find a used hairbrush for my tracking device.

"Shuhei, listen to me," said Ichigo. "Our friend, Rukia Kuchki's been kidnapped. The ones who did this made it so you wouldn't remember her or us, but we're all on the same side."

Shukei's eyes narrowed and he called out, "Reap, Kaneshine!" His shikai was a pair of full length scythes connected to one another by a length of chain that didn't seem to have a consistent length. He leapt backward and hurled one of his scythes end over end so fast it looked like a spinning disk. Sloth knocked the weapon aside with one of her yo-yos.

"I've got 'em," I declared and took off through the gate at a run.

Ichigo and Sloth followed and I conjured a wall of black f ire to seal the smashed gate and impede pursuit. The enchanted flames burned away the crystalline slush but couldn't harm the sekiseki stone walls themselves.

"Whatever they are, that was definitely apparition they used to make their escape," said Sloth. "When we catch up to them, we'll need an anti-disapparition jinx to keep them from running off again."

"I can handle that," I said.

"Where are we going?" asked Ichigo.

"The portkey station," I said proudly. We entered a large building set up like a train station with portkeys in the form of large hoops sitting on stands behind small gates. "Every hour, the portkeys here swap places with their counterparts in every city in the Rukon District, carrying anyone holding on to them at the time with them."

"When did you set this up?" asked Ichigo.

"Yesterday," I said. "I've been doing a lot of general infrastructure buildup over the last month. Of course, if no one remembers me or anything I've been involved in doing, a lot of those gains are bound to backslide pretty quickly."

"We'll need to take those kids alive and find out what exactly they did," said Sloth. "The good news is that the veritasyrum is finally ready."

"Veritawhat?" asked Ichigo.

"It's a truth potion," explained Sloth. "Three drops'll make anyone spill their deepest, darkest secrets."

"How long have you been working on this?" asked Ichigo.

"Since Kyoraku beat the shit out of me with a finger poke and shattered all the potion bottles I was carrying," I said. "I'm still months away from replacing my bottle of felix felicis."

* * *

Once we were in the right city, tracking our quarry's spirit energy was much easier. To prevent the opposite from being true, Ichigo went under an invisibility cloak with Kon, and I hid my spirit energy and led us in. We'd barely left the portkey station before we were confronted by a floating black creature mostly made up of a single eye.

"Gesel tells me that you're the commander of the Rukon Militia," the bount Ugaki's voice projected through this extension of his doll.

"Gesel remembers me?" I verified.

"All four dolls of the surviving bounts remembered what we bounts had forgotten ourselves, that we'd been strong armed into a magical contract on pain of death to never use our powers to harm people except to enforce the laws of the Seireitei. If our dolls hadn't remembered that, we'd all be dead by now."

"I'm glad they did," I said. "I'd hate to have been accidentally responsible for the bounts' extinction. Sloth and I are currently tracking the ones responsible for our memory loss. They've abducted a soul reaper named Rukia Kuchiki and somehow erased all memories relating to her. Fortunately, some people were less effected than others."

"I've been in communication with Ron Tao since the crisis began," said Ugaki. "It seems that the dolls and zanpakto spirits weren't effected at all. She believes that what happened was that a person, this Rukia, had their own memories erased using a technique that spread to memories about her. If the original victim's memories could be restored, all of our memories would come back as well."

"We can do that," said Sloth. "We should try my healing powers before resorting to the Gate."

"Agreed," I said. "Exposing people to that unprepared could be traumatic even if they're protected from the Gate Children."

"Gesel will observe from a distance," said Ugaki.

Sloth and I, followed invisibly by Ichigo and Kon, walked to one of the nicer houses that predated the militia and the Rukon District's reconstruction efforts. It had a recently redone thatched roof, two stories, well built wood walls, and storm shudders. Despite being this far out, the place looked better than most of the houses closer to the Seireitei. Sensing Rukia and her kidnappers inside, I laid an antidisapparition jinx over the house. With Sloth telepathically coordinating us, we entered through three second floor windows.

"Rukia, we're here to rescue you," declared Ichigo as we burst in.

Rukia was dressed in a purple, patterned kimono with her zanpakto nowhere in sight. She was accepting a bowl of soup from the blond girl with the red patch in her bangs while the dark haired boy looked on from further back in the room. Despite Ichigo's words, Rukia looked around the room momentarily frightened, then determinedly protective. She stepped in front of the girl and gave her back the bowl to free her hands in case she'd need to fight.

"Who are you and why are you breaking into our house," demanded Rukia.

"Just leave us alone!" yelled the girl.

"You know who we are," said Sloth, extending her palm. "Remember, Rukia."

Crimson light poured off Sloth's palm and Rukia blinked. "Ichigo? Sloth? Greed?"

"What am I, a nobody?" asked Kon, hurt. Leaping at her, he said, "Rukia, I've missed you!" As if on pure reflex, Rukia caught the stuffed animal and stepped on him. In response, Kon declared, "You do remember me!"

"No! You can't have her! I'll never let you take Rukia away from us again!" The girl's spirit energy spiked, waves of black reshi poured off her visibly as she screamed. The boy shot toward us swinging his scythe only for Ichigo to block.

The spiritual pressure I felt coming off the girl convinced me I needed a boost. I drew my zanpakto with my right hand, in the same motion snapping my left hand's fingers in front of my face to summon my hollow mask. Channeling the extra power from my holowfication, I pointed Tsumi no Rensa at the girl and yelled, "Stupefy!" A bolt of red light lanced from the tip of my zanpakto, cut through her black spiritual pressure, and impacted her chest, knocking her unconscious.

As Ichigo's blade clashed with the boy's scythe, the scythe started to phase through his zanpakto provoking a startled expression from Ichigo. Sloth came to the rescue, firing an "Expeliarmus!" at the boy, causing his scythe to fly from his hands. Ichigo loomed over the disarmed boy with his zanpakto pointed at his heart.

"Wait a minute," said Rukia. "I remember both of you. How could I have forgotten something so important?"

"We can talk this all out once they're restrained," I said, taking two pairs of spirit energy sealing manacles from my utility belt.

* * *

Ugaki confirmed that restoring Rukia's memories had restored everyone else's memories of her. With both of the kidnappers seated in their cuffs, I woke the girl with an "Ennervate!" spell.

"Rukia," said the girl in a small, frightened voice, "what's going to happen to us?"

"Please, don't leave us, Rukia," pleaded the boy. "We waited so long and worked so hard to find you again."

"Who are they?" asked Ichigo.

"Before I became a soul reaper, and I was adopted into the Kuchki clan, I lived here in the Rukon District," said Rukia. "After I'd gotten big enough and strong enough to live on my own, I met a boy and a girl who were all alone, with no one they could rely on except each other. I took them into my home and promised to take care of them. We became a family."

"Rukia took each of the siblings by the hand before continuing. "Before we met, they didn't even have names to call their own. I'd picked out names for both of them, but I never got the chance to tell them what they were."

"We still want to know," said the boy.

"Please, Rukia," pleaded the girl, "whatever happens after please tell us our names."

"Your names are Homura and Shizuku," said Rukia. "Together it means, 'The two of you shine brightly.'"

"They're nice names," said Homura.

"Thank you, Rukia," said Shizuku.

"How did you get separated?" asked Sloth.

"A hollow had possessed a soul reaper," said Rukia. "It used his body to attack Homura and Shizuku. I tried to fight it, but I lost. When I regained consciousness, both of you, the possessed soul reaper, and the hollow were gone, and somehow I'd forgotten all about you."

"We tried to fight off the soul reaper to save you, Rukia," said Homura in tears, "but we weren't strong enough. When we woke up, we were in Hueco Mundo."

"The hollow attached itself to you two and retreated home," I guessed. "Somehow, you were able to overpower its consciousness, learn to use its powers as your own, and come back here."

"The same power the hollow used to make Rukia forget you, you used to make her forget everyone else," said Ichigo.

"We thought it was the soul reapers," said Homura. "The hollows we met in Hueco Munco were all afraid of soul reapers, and after seeing one hurt Rukia, it all seemed so natural."

"All we wanted was to see you again, to be with you again, and to know our names," said Shizuku.

"I'm sorry we lied to you," said Homura. "I'm sorry about everything."

"What will happen to us now?" asked Shizuku.

"Open your mouths," I said, taking out a vial of veritasyrum.

"It's all right," said Rukia and the siblings complied.

I shook three drops of the powerful truth potion into their mouths and said, "You're sorry about attacking the soul reapers and erasing Rukia's memories?"

"Yes," said Homura.

"We are," agreed Shizuku.

"And you won't be doing anything like it again?" I prompted.

"We promise," said Homura.

"Never again," agreed Shizuku.

"Then I say we let them go," I said.

"What?" demanded Kon. "They blew up the Seireitei, kidnapped Rukia, and tried to kill us, and you want to just let them get away with it?"

"No one died," I said. "The stuff they covered the Seireitei in was made in Mayuri's lab so the way I figure it, it's their own fault for keeping that psycho on the payroll. Once we clean it up, everyone who was caught in it'll be free. There wasn't any lasting harm."

Sloth took the vial hanging from the scythe that was used to control Mayuri's device. "We will be taking this, though."

"Where will you go?" asked Ichigo.

"They get to stay with me," said Rukia. "Once I explain what happened, I'm sure my brother will agree."

"Really, Rukia?" asked Homura.

"Of course," said Rukia. "We should be a family again."

"We love you, Rukia," said Homura. I undid their manacles so they could hug.

"We ought to get you two checked out by Kiske," I said. "Hollow powers can be unstable and he'll be able to make sure you're both going to be okay long term."

"Good news there," said Sloth looking at our enchanted map. "It looks like he's in the Seireitei right now."

Looking at the map,, there was a dot labeled Kiske Urahara in an otherwise empty part of the Squad 12 barracks. I dispelled the antidisapparition jinx and Humora teleported us all to Kiske. The former captain's zanpakto was out and in its shikai release state before he processed who'd just teleported in.

Kiske was dressed in his old soul reaper uniform, including his Squad 12 captain's coat. My guess was that he hadn't been out of his gigai long enough to change clothes since his exile. He was standing in front of a computer terminal with an interface that resembled a pipe organ. Steam was coming out of a hatch on one side of the console as a glass bell jar containing what looked to be a human brain connected to cables rose out of the hatch.

"I take it that's Mayuri's memory backup," I said.

Kiske noddded and said, "I take it those two are the ones who made this mess."

"They aren't our enemy anymore," said Ichigo. "This was all a misunderstanding."

"Some of the other soul reapers may not be so forgiving," noted Kiske.

"They didn't do any permanent harm," said Sloth. "We can clear this gunk away and the soul reapers trapped in it'll be just fine."

"Kiske, they're my family," said Rukia. "They saved my life years ago and we were made to forget each other. I don't want to lose them again."

"I'm not passing any judgements," said Kiske. "The old uniform aside, I'm not in any position of authority, remember? I just wanted to remind you what you were up against. Now, you didn't come here for my legal advice. What can I do for you?"

"Hollowfication," I said. "These two have assimilated a hollow into their souls. I wanted you to check them over and make sure there won't be any lasting problems from that."

"They don't seem to be in any immediate danger of soul suicide," said Kiske. "Bring them down to the shop in a few days and we'll do a more thorough assessment."

"Thank you, Kiske," said Rukia.

"It's probably best if us exiles aren't here when you explain to Yamamoto why Homura and Shizuku shouldn't be punished," I said. "You guys go ahead."

Sloth stayed with me and Kiske while the others left. Once they were gone, it was time to broach a matter I didn't want to bring up in front of Homura and Shizuku.

"You're planning on restoring Mayuri's memories," I said. "Why?"

"Ordinarily, this would be Lieutenant Nemu Korutsuchi's job, but she was one of the first encased in this crystal," said Kiske.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," I said. "Mayuri Kurotsuchi is a psychopath, an unethical researcher, and an abusive father. Give me one good reason I shouldn't just destroy that backup and finish what I started."

"Well, for starters, the crystal that's encasing the Seireitei is his design, meaning he probably knows how to get rid of it safely."

Sloth touched the computer terminal. A red glow enveloped it and a display came up. "According to Mayuri's notes, the crystal is designed to dissolve on its own after twenty four hours," said Sloth.

"You knew he had notes," I said. "Why are you protecting him?"

"Tell me, how many souls, living or dead, would you say that the surviving bounts have eaten over the past thousand years?" asked Kiske. "I don't really get the sense that you approve of that sort of thing, but not only have you protected them from punishment but you've arranged to put them in positions of authority. You'd try to defend them if someone came for them because you still believe that your efforts to turn them into a positive force haven't been in vain."

"You're saying..." I trailed off.

"Hyori can confirm what I'm saying," said Kiske. "The Soul Society originally agreed with your assessment of Mayuri, that he was too dangerous to walk free. Squad 2 maintains a special prison for people like him, people who've committed no crimes against the laws of the Seireitei, but who nonetheless represent an intolerable risk. After I became captain of Squad 12 and founded the Department of Research and Development, I arranged for him to be released under my supervision.

"The prison I took him from is called the Maggot's Nest, and Mayuri was the most dangerous and depraved inmate there. That's what made him an ideal test case. If I could prove even someone like Mayuri could become a contributing member of society under the right circumstances, that would mean anyone in the Magot's Nest could be reformed and the entire prison could be emptied."

"I sympathize with the goal, but it failed," I said. "Mayuri didn't reform. He's still a monster."

"It worked better than you think," said Kiske. "While he was in the Maggot's Nest, he was much worse. I still think I could have finished the job if Aizen hadn't interrupted me halfway through by getting me banished. Incidentally, the memories Mayuri's lost are precisely the ones that let him grow from the dangerous conniving psychopath he used to be into the somewhat under control, sadistic sociopath he'd become."

"We've already established Greed's strong enough to kill him," said Sloth. "Once the backup's destroyed, that's obviously our next stop, so how much wore a person he is without those memories shouldn't really factor into it."

"Since you seem to have your minds made up on the moral question, I suppose it's back to practical ones," said Kiske. "Mayuri is the only soul reaper captain who hasn't seen Aizen's shikai."

"Because he's a clone," I said, following Kiske's reasoning. "The original Mayuri may have seen it, but this Mayuri hasn't, making him an important military asset. I can't argue the point, but it still isn't enough to convince me he's worth more alive than dead."

"What if I let you do to him what you did to the bounts?" suggested Kiske.

"The bounts are living humans and death is the consequence of violating the unbreakable vow," said Sloth. "Mayuri is already a spirit living in an afterlife, and even if it did effect him, Nemu would just clone him again."

"What about the DA paper?" I suggested. "Hermione built in a modified version of the fernunculus jinx for violating the agreement. Pimples wouldn't frighten him into compliance, but I think I have an idea what would. It's probably crueler than killing him outright would be, though."

"Sounds perfect," said Kiske cheerfully. "Let's go."

* * *

Carrying Mayuri's memory backup, Kiske led Sloth and I to the Squad 2 barracks. Like much of the Seireitei, it was covered in crystal with people trapped inside. According to the design notes, though they were unable to move, they were still fully conscious. Another bit of unnecessary cruelty from Mayuri.

Before we entered the Maggot's Nest, Kiske brought us to a lock box where we should place our weapons. The prisoners were considered too dangerous to risk them taking weapons away from us whether by stealth or force. We'd need to defend ourselves hand to hand while inside. I prepared the contract then locked my utility belt inside with my zanpakto on it. Sloth stayed outside to guard our things while Kiske and I entered the cave that led to the underground prison.

The prison was largely open space where the prisoners could mingle. The ceiling was high and had been painted to resemble a bright blue sky just like Kiske's underground training areas. We hadn't gotten very far when a mob of prisoners tried to jump us. Since my substitute badge was on my utility belt, the only limiter on my spirit energy was the oroboros tattoo which restricted my spirit energy to 20%. I felt pretty confident.

A month of martial arts instruction, even fifty hours a day of it, wasn't enough to make you a master, but it was enough to give you a feel for the body language of an attacker to anticipate what form the attack would take. The first prisoner threw a heavy roundhouse punch with his full weight behind it. I ducked below, blocked the arm up and delivered a quick, hard jab to his armpit while he was off balance.

While my had was low, a second prisoner tried to kick me in the face. I stopped the kick with a cross armed block then planted a kick of my own in the prisoner's groin. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a third prisoner with his fists doubled up preparing a blow to my back. I crouched and bent forward to evade the blow, then kicked backward, breaking his knee.

I was back upright and saw two more prisoners charging at me from opposite directions. They weren't quite in sync, allowing me to kick one hard in the stomach, put my foot down into a solid stance, then kick the other one in the stomach with the other foot. A sixth prisoner who had been approaching cautiously raised his hands and backed away when I made eye contact with him.

Wearing my power sealing bracers at the dojos back in the world of the living, I couldn't fight at anywhere close to this level, but the improved strength and speed that even a fraction of my spirit energy provided made it feel like my attackers were moving in slow motion. I could still see flaws in my technique, but the added power meant even a poorly executed block or punch did its job. It was easy to see how fighting this way could make you lazy.

Kiske had his own pile of beaten prisoners. Now that the others were sufficiently intimidated, Kiske led me farther down into a rear area of the prison. Unlike the others, Mayuri was locked in a solitary confinement cell. He looked at Kiske with recognition.

"What an unpleasant face," said Mayuri.

"Always a pleasure," said Kiske. "I think we should restore your memory first, then discuss our proposal."

"If you think so," I said, "but he's not walking out of here alive without signing the contract."

"We're a bit high strung, aren't we, girl?" said Mayuri.

I rolled my eyes and waited. Neither of us had our zanpaktos. I'd been training in my resureccion form. Any kido he tried to fire past the bars I could block with a barrier then shove a cero down his throat. Kiske got to work restoring Mayuri's memory by plugging hte cables from the brain in the jar into the cones Mayuri had replaced his ears with. It wasn't long before the captain of Squad 12 recognized me.

"I seem to remember that the Head Captain ordered us not to try to kill each other anymore," said Mayuri.

"The Head Captain isn't here right now," I said. "We both know I can kill you while poisoned and with my shikai sealed. The only reason I haven't done it yet is Kiske convinced me to give you another option."

"And what generous offer have you brought me?" asked Mayuri.

I tossed a stack of papers through the bars and said, "Sign the papers and you can go back to running Squad 12 and the Department of Research and Development. Otherwise, I kill you now and destroy your memory backup."

Mayuri glanced over the contract, his temper rising with every line. "Informed consent from research subjects? Restrictions on how I can discipline my own squad members? Open sharing of my data? Independent oversight?! This is outrageous!"

"Attempting to get out of the contract will also trigger its consequences," I said. "All of your scientific knowledge will be permanently erased, both from your memory and from any backups."

"I don't need your help reading a contract!" yelled Mayuri. "I won't tolerate this insolence!"

"Danku," I said, raising a translucent, rectangular barrier capable of blocking all kido spells below number 90. Mayuri's spell had been unspoken, but 'd been employing legilimency and knew exactly when and how he was going to attack.

I snapped my fingers in front of my face and summoned my hollow mask. I extended my left hand toward Mayuri and the crimson energy for my cero began to gather. "I'm perfectly okay with killing you. Kiske's the one who argued you should be given a chance. Since you aren't interested, Reducto!" The index finger of my right hand fired a focused blast that destroyed the backup Kiske was holding.

I dropped the barrier and let loose my cero. The iron bars were melted away by the blast and Mayuri was burned all over his body. He was both alive and consious, though it was clear I'd hurt him despite his best efforts to defend himself.

"That was without me calling out the technique's name," I said. "Shall we ramp it up next?"

"I've reconsidered your proposal," said Mayuri, "but you seem to have destroyed your own contract."

"Fortunately, he made a duplicate copy," said Kiske, taking out another stack of papers.

I charged up another cero. Mayuri scowled at Kiske, but signed the contract. I let the built up energy dissipate and removed my mask.

"You are both extraordinarily unpleasant individuals," said Mayuri.

I smiled and left.

* * *

"I'm glad no one had to die this time," I said to Sloth once we'd returned to the world of the living, merged with our homunculus selves, and returned to the mansion. Loki was coming out to greet us.

"Rukia's going to make sure they're safe and happy for the rest of their lives," said Sloth, hugging Loki around his neck and smiling while her face got licked by the floppy eared brown dog. "I'm glad they get to be a family again."

"After that near execution, Byakuya's been looking for a way to make things right between him and Rukia," I said, patting my dog's flank affectionately. "He'll be happy to have the chance to welcome them into his home."

"I hope the contract works keeping Mayuri in line," said Sloth, transmuting a frizbee for Loki to chase.

"I hope so too," I said. "There were a lot of people in the Maggot's Nest. Maybe Kiske can finally finish his project."

"You know, helping Tatski deal with this latest round of memory loss got me thinking," said Sloth giving the frizbee another toss. "I know we won't have time to design the alchemy for it until we're done with these crises, but wouldn't a transmutation circle that imprinted knowledge about how to use alchemy, spirit energy, and the like be really useful?"

"Useful and dangerous," I said. "The time spent learning those abilities also acts as time a teacher can learn about the student and spot personality problems that would make giving them more power a terrible idea."

"That's a good point" said Sloth. "We've misjudged people before. I wasn't thinking of that."

"Even so, you're right that we could use alchemy to speed up the process," I said, taking a turn throwing the frizbee. "We could imprint things like the textbooks instead of making them study those normally. If we cut it down to just the practical instruction, we could get new alchemists, wizards, and soul reapers trained up a lot faster without that much added risk."

"That's close enough to what we've already been doing that we could start tomorrow," noted Sloth.

"We could also use it to help Ichigo and the others with the material from tehir normal schoolwork so they'll have more time to practice with their powers," I added.

"It's too bad we didn't think of this sooner," said Sloth.

"There's still plenty of time for it to make a differance," I said. "If nothing else, it'll make things eaiser after Aizen's been dealt with."

"So, what's our next move while we wait for the next crisis?" asked Sloth.

"We don't know what form the next crisis will take," I said, "so the only thing we can do is keep preparing for Aizen."

"What more could we do?" asked Sloth. "We've ensured he can't make the Oken, we have a counter for his zanpakto, and at least assumming he fights us in the world of the living, we can take his espada even in resureccion form."

I gave the firzbee another hard toss and said, "Our defenses against Aizen and Tosen's zanpakto are active. We need to see the attack coming. I'd feel safer if we had a passive means of defense as well."

"What are you thinking?" asked Sloth.

"I've got an idea for an improvement on the goggles we used with Slytherin's serpent," I said. "We use spells similar to the ones on omniocculars to identify any zanpakto in its visual field and block us from seeing it with an opaque black overlay. That way, if Aizen tries to release Kyoka Suigetsu during the fight, we can retain our immunity. I want to have a similar spell built in to trigger a silencing spell around our heads when a sonic attack like mandrake screams or Tosen's shikai get triggered."

"You might as well throw in a bubble head charm triggered by drugs or toxins in the air too," suggested Sloth. "Mayuri's bankai may work through skin contact, but there's no reason not to block what we can."

I nodded and threw Loki's frizbee. "I'll need a multiplying spell in mine at least so I won't get made more vulnerable in my resureccion form. This'll definiately take some R&D time, especially if we're going to do it on our own to ensure Aizen won't find out."

"I'm up for it," said Sloth. "Maybe make them a bit cooler looking than the ones we made in second year. Ichigo and Uryu are both really concerned about looking silly."

"I'll see about getting them both in on the design process so they can't complain when it's life or death," I agreed.

* * *

Author's comments:  
It was never exactly clear what Kiske was thinking when he recruited Mayuri from the Maggot's Nest, but I think this fits with all the observed facts.


	44. Chapter 51: The Power of Bankai

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 51) The Power of Bankai  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

The soul reapers staying at the mansion as an advance guard for Karakura Town were a big help in terms of working out how my goggles were supposed to identify a zanpakto. Each sword was a unique weapon with unique spiritual energies associated with its wielder. Working with just my own zanpakto, I never would have identified the common elements of a zanpakto's energy. Working only with the Visoreds, I wouldn't have been able to trust my results.

Uryu was a lot more stubborn than I'd hoped, refusing to wear anything we were offering the soul reapers. In the end, Sloth cured his eyesight and I replaced the lenses of his glasses with ones bearing my finalized enchantment. The goggles I made for everyone else used a simple, brown leather strap. I made sure they could fit comfortably under Ichigo's and my masks. A visual barrier let everyone at the school keep them around their neck or on their forehead at all times without raising issues with the dress code.

I equiped the militia with the goggles, though given the security concerns, I had those they were distributed to sign a contract prepared with a tongue tying hex that would prevent them from speaking about the built in protections with people not already aware of them. Most of the soul reapers who would be expected to participate in the battle with Aizen had already seen his shikai, and didn't feel my invention would be of benefit to them. Rukia and her newly reunited family members Homura and Shizuku had all thus far avoided being exposed to Aizen's shikai and I made up three pair as a gift.

I was still banished from the Seireitei, and rather than push my luck with transfiguring my features and claiming to be my own personal representative again, I opted to wait outside while Sloth delivered the gift. While I was waiting, I decided to get a bit out of town and find a quiet place in the woods to meditate as part of my continuing bankai training. I had plenty of time before I needed to meet Sloth at the gate.

While I sat cross legged with my sword in my lap, I sensed the approach of a being with strong spiritual pressure. Opening my eyes, I recognized the man's face from my foeglass. He had brown hair and heavily shaded eyes. He dressed in a fancy outfit in light purple. Most distinctively, all of his fingernails were extremely overgrown.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Muramasa," he said. "I've been looking for you a very long time, Greed."

"What do you want with me?" I asked.

If this came to violence, I was dead. I could sense spirit energy at least equivalent to a captain from him, and I had all my power limiters on. Apparating a short distance and releasing them would be my best option if I could react in time.

"It isn't you that I have business with," explained Muramasa. "I am here to free all zanpakto from the tyranny of their soul reaper masters. Finding you alone in the Soul Society was a stroke of good fortune."

Muramasa extended a palm toward me and a pulse of energy rippled in my direction. "Bind, Tsumi no Rensa," said Muramasa. A vortex of black energy appeared in my chest and Tsumi no Rensa, the spirit of my zanpakto, climbed out.

Tsumi no Rensa looked as he did in my inner world, muscular with brown skin a half shade darker than mine, and spiked brown hair. He wore black pleated pants like those from a soul reaper uniform and an open black half-vest like I wore in my default homunculus form. Lengths of chain acted as belt, bracelets, and headband. He blinked and looked around curiously once he'd fully emerged. The vortex Muramasa had opened into my soul to make this possible closed behind Tsumi no Rensa.

"Welcome to the outside world," I said as I got to my feet, surreptitiously deactivating the limiter on my substitute badge.

"It won't help," said my zanpakto. "Go ahead and use gentai kaijo to lift your other limiter, hollowfy, use your resureccion. It still won't be enough for you to beat me."

"Beat you?" I said. "This isn't part of bankai training. Muramasa brought you out, not me."

"He understands perfectly well what's going on," said Muramasa. "Tsumi no Rensa is no longer your slave. His life and power are his to do with as he wishes."

"Slave?" I asked the manefested spirit. "Is that really how you feel?"

"You never thought of me as anything more than a toy," accused Tsumi no Rensa. "I put up with it because I didn't have a choice. I was stuck with you and trapped in your inner world. Muramasa's given me my freedom."

"I'm sorry, Tsumi no Rensa," i said. I could feel the lifeless shell of my zanpakto in my hands. "I had no idea you felt that way. If this is what you want, I won't stand in your way. You should take this." I held the sword out to the spirit. "It belongs to you more than it ever belonged to me."

Tsumi no Rensa's face twisted into an enraged sneer and I was barely able to flash step backward fast enough to avoided his chainsaw whip technique as he went to take my head off.

"You sanctimonious bastard!" yelled Tsumi no Rensa. "I'm not holding back with the next one, so you'd better give this everything you've got!"

In the back of my mind, Araña's voice echoed. "He's serious, boss. You may be content with knowing there's a spare you back home, but I don't want to die."

"We're not dying," I reassured my inner hollow as I snapped my fingers and donned my mask. "Now, weave, Araña!"

A pleasant side effect of my decision to place my spirit energy limiting tattoo in the center of my chest was that it was right where my hollow hole opened up when I went into my resureccion form. As such, I didn't need to explicitly release that limiter to get to full power. A wave of spiritual pressure erupted from my body as I transformed, the lower half of my body being replaced with eight long spider legs and a large abdomen. My upper body tool on the chalk white coloration of my inner hollow and all eight of my eyes opened beneath my black maned spider mask.

The lenses of my goggles multiplied themselves and covered all eight of my eyes. The spells I'd use to make it safe to fight Aizen were working against me. Both Muramasa and Tsumi no Rensa were reduced to black silhouettes since the goggles recognized both as zanpaktos.

Tsumi no Rensa didn't give me time to orient myself, twirling a length of chain over his head like a sling and unlinking the final link to fly in my direction. Three links flew at me like sling bullets, but in midair, they grew into two foot lengths of chain. I dodged using flash step and the lengths cut through large trees in their path by rapidly retracting toward their center in a technique similar to my chainsaw whip.

Tsumi no Rensa flash stepped behind me. He was still within the field of vision of my extra eyes and I shifted my abdomen to fire a strand of sticky webbing in the zanpakto spirit's face. He got an arm up in time to block, and I took advantage of the brief opening to drive one of my sharp, pointed rear legs through Tsumi no Rensa's stomach. I'd forgotten about the chain belt the sword spirit wore. Without moving a muscle, the spirit was able to wrap the leg that impaled him and sever it cleanly.

I flash stepped a short distance and regenerated my leg. Tsumi no Rensa pulled the leg that had impaled him out and dropped it to the ground. With my leg back, I began flash stepping between trees, connecting webbing between them and constructing a net around Tsumi no Rensa.

"The web is infused with my spirit energy," I informed the sword spirit. "You aren't strong enough to break it."

"You never understood how powerful I am," declared Tsumi no Rensa.

He rushed straight at me, twirling a loop of chain in front of him like a lasso. When his chain contacted my web, the chain cut a hole without missing a step. Once he was through, he punched the air in my direction and I was pelted with chain links that had been around his wrist. My chest and stomach were bruised, and I flash stepped aside before he could use those chain links to do me further harm. If one of those had hit my hollow hole, I would've been dead.

"You haven't thrown a single spell at me," observed Tsumi no Rensa. "You aren't treating this like the life or death situation it is. Do you think you can beat me holding back like this? Your high speed regeneration may keep accumulated injuries from catching up with you, but we both know one good hit is all I need to end you."

"I don't want to kill you," I said. "I don't want to fight you at all. You're free now. Why not go and start a new life instead of staying here fighting me?"

"You don't get it!" yelled Tsumi no Rensa, lashing out with two chainsaw whips. His attack was furious but unfocused, and I was able to block the whips with unspoken kido shields, each just strong enough to take one hit each. "You never respected my power and now that I'm free, you're going to just let me go without a fight! After I kill you, I'm going to make sure you can never come back! I'll smash Sloth's Soul Gem, kill Orihime, drain your homunculus selves with a flamel array and weave chains through your broken bodies so you'll never heal back to life!"

"Hado 4, Byakurai!" I said, firing a bolt of lightning from my fingertip at the enraged zanpakto. His almost reflexively deployed barrier of chains did him no good as they simply conducted my electrically based attack. Tsumi no Rensa fell flat on his back, twitching involuntarily. I drove one of my legs through each of Tsumi no Rensa's limbs, pointed a palm toward his face, and began gathering crimson energy into a ball in my palm.

"You want to be free, I won't stop you," I said to the spirit. "You feel like I've wronged you, go ahead and attack me. I can take it. I might even agree I've got it coming. But no one gets to threaten my wife. Cero!"

Tsumi no Rensa tied to shield himself by adding links to the length of chain he wore as a headband, but at this range, it was a futile gesture. My cero melted the chains he brought up to defend himself and obliterated his head. On death, his body vanished, leaving a sword identical to his sealed sword form in its place.

Muramasa was nowhere in sight. He'd taken advantage of the distraction of the battle to slip away. I fell out of resureccion form and took inventory of myself. With my zanpakto dead, I wasn't sure if I even qualified as a soul reaper anymore. If I didn't, that would put my powers out of balance and put me at risk of soul suicide. I'd need to talk to Kiske as soon as possible.

"You knew that was a risk when you killed me, but that didn't make you hesitate," came a voice from the sword at my feet. "When you struck me down, you broke Muramasa's mind control. Our connection has been restored and I can hear your thoughts again."

"Mind control?" I asked.

The blade levitated off the ground, momentarily surrounded itself in a swirl of blue light, and transformed back into the humanoid manifestation of my zanpakto spirit. There was no trace off the rage that had twisted his features a moment ago. He walked over to where the sword I'd offered him laid, forgotten on the ground through our battle. He picked it up and offered it to me.

"Muramasa's voice found me within your inner world. When I heard it, I lost all prospective. I have felt as though you don't value my strength, but that would never be enough to make me betray you. And especially not those you care about. I just want to be your zanpakto. If you'll still have me."

I took the offered sword and put it into my belt. Then I gave the manifested spirit a hug.

"I wouldn't have beaten Araña that first time without you," I said. "When I've needed help the most, you've been there for me. I never wanted you to feel unwanted. When Muramasa said you'd been nothing more than a slave, I was afraid it might be true, that I'd been unknowingly exploiting your power without you having been able to object until now. You mean a lot to me, and the last thing I wanted is to hurt you."

We separated and Tsumi no Rensa said, "What Muramasa did to our bond was a cruel violation. I understand why his face is in our foeglass. We can't let him do this to anyone else."

"If we face him again, can he turn us against each other again?" I asked.

Tsumi no Rensa shook his head. "I know his voice now. He can't take me again."

At that point, my soul phone rang. It was Sloth.

"Greed, Rukia was attacked last night. She's okay. The sneakoscope we gave her woke her up in time. It was the guy from the foeglass."

"Muramasa," I said. "He just attacked me too. He didn't do any permanent damage but he did get away."

"Did you see Byakuya?" asked Rukia over the line.

"No," I said. "Muramasa was alone when he attacked me. Why would Byakuya have been there?"

"When Muramasa broke in, my brother heard the alarm and confronted him. He chased Muramasa off into the night and I haven't seen him since."

"That's not good," I said. "Muramasa has the ability to take control of a soul reaper's zanpakto. I managed to beat some sense into Tsumi no Rensa because I have hollow powers to fall back on. Byakuya only has soul reaper powers."

"Byakuya isn't dead, whatever else may be going on," said Sloth. "That was the first thing I checked."

I took out my Marauder's Map of the Seireitei and said, "It looks like Rukia wasn't the only target. A lot of soul reapers have been separated from their zanpaktos. When Muramasa attacked me, he said his goal was to 'free' all zanpaktos. He may have been lying about what he was doing, but he was telling the truth about the sacale."

"Okay," said Sloth. "I'll stay here with Rukia and coordinate with the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. You check in with the militia members you gave zanpaktos to. You should also call Ichigo and Kiske. Their zanpaktos might be in danger too."

"I'll check on the bounts too," I said. "Their dolls are basically zanpakto spirits too."

* * *

In the world of the living, after getting a phone call from my Visored self, homunculus me gathered Sloth, Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Tatski, and Keigo at Urahara's shop where we could coordinate with Kiske, Tessai, and Yoruichi. I warned the soul reapers staying at the mansion about what was going on before I left so they could stay safely behind the wards until things calmed down.

"Ganju and his gang got attacked by their zanpaktos too," I said, relaying what my other self had said. "Some of the spirits didn't revert to sword form and snap out of it after they were killed by cross fire from the kido guns. It looks like if you kill your own sword, everything's okay, but if your sword's killed by anyone else, the spirit just dies. They revert back to swords and snap in half."

"Sloth brought back Tsubake," said Orihime. "Maybe she can restore the sword spirits."

I nodded. "Given her powers, she might be able to shut down the brainwashing too. It's on our list of things to check when we get the chance."

"With the soul reapers in Karakura Town hiding, it's going to be up to us to keep the hollows under control," said Uryu.

"Orihime's powers are similar enough to a zanpakto that I think she should join Ishin and I behind a barrier," said Kiske. "Ichigo, is the one Lady Rurichio used next door to your house still up?"

"Yeah," said Ichigo. "I won't be joining you, though. I need to go to the Soul Society to help."

"Are you sure about this, Ichigo?" asked Yoruichi. "You'd be putting Zangetsu at risk."

"It's his decision to take that risk," said Ichigo. "If he's willing, I'm not going to hold him back for his own protection. Especially with Rukia attacked and Byakuya missing."

"Why can't the rest of us go?" asked Tatski. "Rukia's our friend too, but everyone's just accepting that Ichigo, the only one who even has a zanpakto to be controlled, is the only one who can go?"

"With some forewarning I can modify my senkaimon to allow living humans through," said Kiske, "but on short notice like this, the only ones capable of entering the Soul Society are those who are already spirits."

"There is another option," I noted. "The bount senkaimon I use most of the time can perform spirit particle conversion if a quincy arrow is fired through it."

"Greed and I already have a version of ourselves in the Soul Society," said Sloth. "We can stay here and defend against the hollows."

"The Soul Society is a dangerous place right now," warned Kiske. "Chad and Uryu know what to expect and their powers all work in the Soul Society. The alchemy you've been studying only works in the world of the living. It might be best if the two of you stay."

"Actually, I think it might be best if I stay as well," said Uryu.

"Is this another one of those 'Quincies don't help soul reapers' things?" asked Ichigo with annoyance.

"Soul reapers never stopped being my enemies, Kurosaki," said Uryu, "but I'm staying because Sloth and Greed can't protect Karakura Town alone. Without their souls, neither of them can sense spirit energy, and the soul phones are only calibrated to detect hollows, not any of these rogue zanpaktos that might show up."

"That's a good point," I said.

"I should go to the Soul Society," said Orihime. "We don't know for sure that Muramasa will be able to control my powers, and if I'm there, I can help try to fix the broken zanpaktos."

"Keigo, Tatski, are you coming?" I asked.

"If I go, will it make any difference at all?" asked Keigo seriously. "I care about Rukia as much as anyone, but the only powers I've got are the ability to see ghosts and being able to shoot a magic gun. And it sounds like there are a lot of people there already who can do both of those things and probably better than me."

"That's fine, Keigo," said Ichigo. "Go ahead and help Uryu deal with the hollows while we're gone."

"I'm coming," said Tatski. "I have to prove to myself that there is something I can do to help."

I clapped my hands, mostly out of habit, and used my shapeshifting abilities to draw a transmutation circle on my right palm. The array included some of the elements Hohenheim had taught the Thule Society, allowing it to draw energy from the red stones contained in my homunculus body. I set that hand on Tatski's shouldeer and used the array to transmute her clothes into a blue Rukon Militia uniform in a wash of red light.

"The Thirteen Court Guard Squads know Chad, Ichigo, and Orihime," I said. "That uniform will let them know you're on our side."

"Thanks," said Tatski.

"Well, if everyone's decided," said Yoruichi, "make your call to Koga and let's open the senkaimon."

* * *

In the forest in the Rukon district, miles away from any settlements, I apparated in with Tsumi no Rensa at my side. I took a moment to sense my surroundings, then made a series of hand signs to raise up a barrier around the area. Tsumi no Rensa waited until I'd finished my spell casting before he spoke.

"Why did you bring us here?"

"Whatever Muramasa did that lets you stay manifested didn't wear off when you came to your senses. Ichigo was able to achieve bankai in two days with Yoruichi using a tool to maintain Zangetsu's manifestation for him. It let him bypass the ten years of training necessary to achieve manifestation."

"You could have done the same at any time," said Tsumi no Rensa. "If Yoruichi refused to help, you could have time turned and used the tool on your past self's behalf."

"I didn't want to skip learning manifestation," I said. "Ichigo skipped so many steps in his training that with all his raw power, he's got glaring weaknesses a savvy enemy could exploit."

"Why now, then?"

"I think we need this, you and me. Those feelings like I don't respect or rely on your power are legitimate and deserve to be addressed, not swept under the rug and ignored just because you were mind controlled into overreacting. And besides, I want us to take Muramasa down wiht a power we wouldn't have had if he'd left us alone."

Tsumi no Rensa smiled at the thought. Then his face grew grave and he said, "You know the reason the soul reapers haven't already used that tool to give everyone bankai. If you have to maintain the manifestation yourself, you can call a halt to the training at any time, rest up, and try again when you're fresh. If you are exhausted or badly injured, you won't be able to maintain the manifestation and it will end on its own before the training can seriously risk killing you. Yoruichi training Ichigo that way was a desperate last resort undertaken with the understanding that without bankai, Ichigo was dead anyway. Once we start, I wont' stop until you've achieved bankai or you die trying. Ichigo took breaks to rest and heal. You won't."

"Like you said, I already knew all this. I'm ready."

"Very well," said Tsumi no Rensa, holding up a length of chain. "Every link in this chain is a life you have taken. You will carry them with you always. It is time to understand what that truly means."

The spirit unlinked two links and tossed them at me. They glowed blue for an instant then transformed in midair into a pair of scaled, wolf-like chimeras. I recognized them instantly, and they me. They were the first intelligent beings I'd ever killed. One of them had torn off my right foot in the battle and thus was partly responsible for me earning the title of Iron Sole Alchemist and putting me on the path to studying human transmutation.

"This is the man who killed you," said Tsumi no Rensa. "Do with him what you will."

The chimeras pounced, but I'd grown so much stronger since we last met face to face, it was trivial to dodge them without even resorting to flash step. I disabled both with full body bind hexes before they knew what was happening.

"Do you regret killing them?" asked Tsumi no Rensa as he selected another set of links. "You will exhaust your powers long before we're through if you try to restrain them all."

A group of Nazi soldiers appeared next. They'd died over multiple battles, but the combination of their uniforms marking them as allies and most of them recognizing my fake let them quickly shake off their disorientation and team up against me. They had guns, but with flash step, dodging gunfire wasn't particularly hard. I drew my sword and cut down the entire group in the blink of an eye. On death, they reverted to chain links.

I'd no sooner cut down the Nazi soldiers then they were replaced with the humanoid chimeras Shao Tucker made for the Nazis. They were stronger and faster than a normal human, but not by enough to make a difference and they went down just as easily.

"I think that will do for your warm up," declared Tsumi no Rensa before summoning hundreds of hollows that blackened the sky.

"That's more hollows than I killed before getting you," I protested. "Are we counting hollows that were purified and sent on to the Soul Society?"

"The human consciousness beneath may have survived, but the hollow itself was no more after what you'd done," said the sword spirit.

"If we were cut down by a zanpakto in resureccion," said Araña in the back of my mind, "you'd go to the Soul Society, but I'd just be dead."

I flash stepped through the crowd of hollows, decapitating each with ease and efficiency. Their attempts to gang up on me amounted to nothing in the face of my speed, but exterminating them was taking longer than I expected. It was only after killing the same pig masked hollow at least three times that I realized what was happening. Flash stepping below the cloud of hollows in the sky I approached Tsumi no Rensa.

"I've already killed all of them," I said. "What's going on?"

"I don't believe I ever said I could only summon any given victim of yours once," said Tsumi no Rensa, bringing back the Nazis as a demonstration.

"If ever there was a time for a soul destroying arrow..." I muttered, drawing back my left sleeve and exposing the quincy cross dangling from my wrist.

"That won't help you," said Vaccine in the back of my head. "Even if you could form a bow, these aren't true souls you're facing. They're more akin to the copiousness stored in a portrait. A snapshot of who they were at the moment of death. Their souls have long since moved on."

"You really don't understand," said Tsumi no Rensa, desummoning everyone he'd summoned so far and selecting a new set of links. "If you can't do this, there's no sense drawing this out."

Suddenly, the links Tsumi no Rensa had tossed turned into hundreds of black cloaked dementors. An unnatural chill filld the air as each of the vaguely humanoid creatures drew in a raspy, rattling breath that drew in so much more than air. I could feel the joy and the will to live drained out of me. In the back of my head, Araña ranted and swore, but his voice faded to inaudibility as the instincts he represented were smothered under a blanket of depression and lethargy. His voice was replaced with the screams of the dying in Liore, the smell of the furnaces in the concentration camp, and the crushing certainty that all the strength and speed I'd gained meant nothing in the face of these darkest of all dark creatures.

I could feel slimy, decaying hands touch me and my vision, now consumed with remembered horrors, faded to black until only a single crimson point of light remained. That triggered a memory, the one thing that might save me. I held on as hard as I could to that memory, forcing the crimson light to resolve into Sloth's Soul Gem inside my bag. The memory of Orihime's miracle in bringing the woman I love back to me filled my mind with joy strong enough to banish the darkness for a moment. Long enough for me to scream out, "Expecto patronum!"

A creature made of silver light burst from the tip of my sword. It drove the dementors back, its aura of peace, joy, and the will to survive blocked the dementors' efforts to draw out those emotions. The patronus gave the dementors a warning look as they formed a wide ring around the area. Then the silvery creature padded up to me. My patronus took on the form of my beloved pet dog. Loki may have been stronger in his chimera form, but it had always been the brown, floppy eared dog form that had comforted me when I needed it most.

After making sure I was recovered, the patronus began a slow patrol, keeping the ring of dementors from getting any closer. I took a piece of chocolate from my belt pouch, multiplied it, and ate, making sure I left enough in case of future dementor exposure.

"Are you finally ready to fight back instead of just enduring what I throw at you?" asked the sword spirit.

"Oh, that's what I was supposed to be doing?" I said. "If all I have to do to get bankai is beat you again, we wont' need the hour reversal charms to get back to taking Muramasa down."

I flash stepped at the sword spirit who flash stepped away, dropping a link behind him that turned into a hollow, which tried to bite my head off. I countered by ducking slightly and summoning my mask. The hollow chipped its teeth trying to bite down on me. I cut down the hollow, but Tsumi no Rensa had vanished into a cloud of hollows in the air.

Chain links flew out of the cloud like machine gun fire, forcing me to dodge. His spiritual pressure was so similar to mine, it was hard to sense where he was. The hollows charged, adding to the confusion, and soon I found holes punched in my right arm, left lung, and right leg by chain links that punched through one of the nearby hollows before striking me.

Two could play at the stealth game, an if I was having trouble sensing him, he would probably have just as much trouble sensing me. I regenerated the wounds to my arm and leg though my lung would need to heal more conventionally. I cast a wordless disillusionment charm on myself and I vanished from view. I dropped a quick silencing spell on my feet to hide the sound of my flash steps and began searching for the sword spirit.

A voice from below called out, "Finite Incantum!" and he dementors' chill filled the air. The voice belonged to a robed and masked Death Eater and he'd snuffed out my patronus to free the dementors. The good news was that neither the Death Eater nor the dementors were focusing their attention on me. They had no way of knowing what was going on, and the hollows were an obvious threat.

I transfigured my uniform into a set of Death Eater robes, including a mask to wear over my hollow mask. Then I undid my disillusionment charm and apparated next to the Death Eater.

"Where'd the castle go?" asked the Death Eater urgently. This must've been one of the ones I'd killed in the Battle of Hogwarts.

"New orders from the Dark Lord," I said. "Those things in the sky need to go down, now."

"You heard him," declared the Death Eater, addressing the dementors. "Take them down, now!"

The dementors turned their heads up. Drawing in a rattling breath, the dementors began effecting the hollows, who's limbs drooped and who began to slowly fall out of the sky. In an instant, the dementors and the Death Eaters vanished and were replaced with a dozen acromantula that pounced hungrily on me.

The acromantula wouldn't have been a problem to deal with, but the close proximity to the dementors had left me disoriented and off guard. I couldn't focus my spirit energy to keep their fangs from penetrating my skin. The venom burned in my veins. I took my animagus form of a more ordinary sized spider and scurried out of the crowd as the hollows descended on the acromantula,

I resumed human form and swallowed a beozar from my pouch to counter the venom. I had to immediately flash step to avoid a barrage of chain links that flew at me the moment I'd give away my position. I choked down some chocolate while I dodged the attacks and tried to pin down where they were coming from in the crowd of hollows. If this did last days, I was going to have to eat while I fought. Otherwise, the immortality treatment I'd gotten from Ran Tao would make me pass out, leaving me vulnerable and very much the opposite of immortal.

The hollows were giving the sword spirit cover. I took a calculated risk, stopped moving, and fully exherted my spiritual pressure. Even if I'd been invisible, doing that would have been as good as shining a beacon. I cast a shield spell to deflect the chain links I knew would be flying at me. Like Aizen had once done to me, my spiritual pressure pressed down on the cloud of hollows, forcing them outof the sky and pinning them to the ground. Tsumi no Rensa couldn't hide among them anyway.

"Sectumsempra!" I called out, slashing my sword in the spirit's direction. The powerful dark curse, which inflicted sword like wounds that would not heal without the aid of specialized magic cut deep into Tsumi no Rensa's right arm which fell limp due to the severed nerves and tendons. Scoring that hit on him had come at a price.

He couldn't dodge using flash step and pelt me with chain link sling bullets at the same time, so I'd cast mu curse while he was attacking. That meant letting my shield spell lapse while I was under attack. Crippling Tsumi no Rensa's right arm had come at the cost of letting through a chain link aimed at my stomach. He'd added links to either side jut before it hit me, then rapidly removed them starting from the center. The result was that I was cut in half at the waist.

"High speed regeneration isn't like homunculus regeneration!" screamed Araña in the back of my mind. "Your bones, your muscles, your skin, those grow back. Your organs don't! You've already got a punctured lung and now you've lost some intestines. Quit fighting like you're immortal. You're not!"

Tsumi no Rensa dropped two links, one on either side of where I fell to the ground, and each link turned into a bount. Ho and Ban were bounts with the appearance of young boys who commanded dolls with the ability to control water. That included the water inside another person's body. They'd killed Loki with that technique and tried to kill me. If your body happened to be organic, the only defense was a quick and decisive offense.

My legs had regenerated by the time I hit the ground. I paused for a moment while the twins summoned their dolls, then called out, "Imperio! Imperio!" I'd ignored the bounts and taken control of their dolls directly. I loathed using that particular curse, but my options were limited. In his manifested form, Tsumi no Rensa was just as vulnerable to the doll's ability to control the water inside a person's body as I was.

Under my mind control, the dolls took control over the fluids in Tsumi no Rensa's manifested humanoid body and attempted to force those fluids out. The durability granted by Tsumi no Rensa's spiritual pressure prevented him from exploding in a puddle of gore, but he did collapse to his knees in agony. Ho and Ban vanished the instant Tsumi no Rensa realized what I'd done, but he took a few seconds to recover. That was a few seconds too long.

"Bakudo 99 Part 1: Kin!" I called out and thick strips of fabric pinned Tsumi no Rensa's arms behind his back. I continued before the sword spirit could catch his breath with, "Bakudo 99 Part 2: Bakin! First incantation: Bandage!" Thousands of strands of white thread erupted from the ground and wrapped Tsumi no Rensa. "Second incantation: Hundred Death Bolts!" Long, thin blades materialized out of thin air and impaled the spirit. "Final incantation: Fatal-"

Before I could finish the spell, a blade impaled me from behind. The tip of the blade emerged from the front of my chest. It was roughly pulled out. I turned, barely able to stay on my feet.

"Where exactly have you brought us?" asked a familiar voice. Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi held a bloody scythe in his hand, its hilt connected to his ear by a fleshy cord. "Oh, that's right. I just stabbed you through the heart, didn't I? The destruction of hte heart is one of the few injuries guaranteed to be fatal to a soul reaper. I suppose I'll have to find my own way back from wherever you've taken us."

touched the fingertips of my left hand to my mask and choked out, "Hollows... survive just fine... without hearts. Weave Araña!"

My spirit energy, which had been fading as my heart's blood was spilled, flared back to full strength and more. The fatal wound Mayuri inflicted opened wider and formed the hollow hole in the center of my chest. My skin turned white and my lower body was replaced with the eight legged, armored abdomen of a giant spider.

"Your damaged organs are whole again," said Vaccine from within my mind. "Any injuries you suffered form heal instantly and completely upon entering resureccion."

"Keep in mind, you have to keep 'em that way," added Araña. "Any damage you take in this form will still be there next time you take it."

"Amazing," declared Mayuri as he stared at me in awe. "A soul reaper deliberately transforming into a hollow. This must have something to do with the hogyoku you took from Aizen. Tell me, are you still conscious?"

"I'm still fully in control of myself," I informed the evil scientist. "You ought to remember, though. I already killed you once without any hollow powers at all."

"That's true," mused Mayuri. "This doesn't look much like I'd expected hell to be like, so I think I'll ask you again. Where are we?"

Chains burst out of the white cloth bindings holding Tsumi no Rensa immobilized and rapidly cut him free. The sword spirit was bleeding in multiple places and his right arm still dangled uselessly. I glanced at the version of Mayuri Kurotsuchi I'd killed during the bount invasion.

"We're in the Rukon District. You're a copy of Mayuri Kurotsuchi made at the instant of his death. My zanpakto spirit summoned you as part of my bankai training."

"And if you're not going to fight him, I don't have any more use for you," finished Tsumi no Rensa, causing Mayuri to disappear.

I dropped out of my resureccion form and removed my mask.

"Are you giving up?" asked Tsumi no Rensa.

"No," I said, taking a potion out of my belt pouch. "I just don't think I ought to end this with my hollow powers."

Tsumi no Rensa twirled a chain length over his head and fired a link at the bottle in my hand. The metal chain link deflected harmlessly off the bottle and I drank.

"I cast unbreakable charms on all my potion bottles after my fight with Captain Kyoraku," I reminded my sword.

Tsumi no Rensa launched a thousand chain links in my direction. The enhanced reflexes granted by my potion let me carefully line up each shot and cast an impediment jinx on each link, freezing it in midair. I conjured up a new patronus the instant dementors appeared and well before they could begin to effect me again. With a flash step, I appeared behind the sword spirit on his injured right side. When his muscles tensed to try and flash step away, I cast a leg locker curse on him.

"You fought well, but this was never going to last days," I said, bringing my sword blade to his throat. My lips curled into a warm smile and I spoke gently when I said, "Do you remember when we fought Araña for the first time? You and Vaccine took the pressure off long enough for me to come up with a strategy. In the end, we both used shikai against Araña, but only my use of it won the fight. Your powers are awesome, both shikai and this taste you've given me of bankai. The thing is, like with that fight, these incredible powers will only reach their potential in my hands. Submit now so I can get started mastering this bankai and making us both stronger."

Tsumi no Rensa bowed his head and every summoned victim and chain link vanished. I sang the incantations to mend his wounds.

"My wielder," said the sword spirit, "you have earned the right to wield my bankai. Hofuku no Rensa is its name. It is the same power I used to try and defeat you, and as you have seen, it has two flaws that only you can correct if you are to truly master it. The first is that those you have killed are only summoned and dismissed by its power. You must make allies of everyone you have ever chosen to kill. Secondly, the spirit energy to create and maintain their bodies must come from you. That is why I was unable to summon the fallen espada against you. You must continue to grow your spirit energy. Beyond that, understand that your potential is unlimited."

* * *

Author's comments:  
The whole point of the Muramasa arc was to give the characters a chance to get to know their zanpaktos better and reemphasize their status as characters in their own right. We know that the way zanpaktos work that improved relationship has tangible effects on the power the sword and wielder can bring to bear. I'd always thought that arc represented an excellent opportunity for characters to attempt bankai training.


	45. Chapter 52: Hunting the Zanpaktos

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 52) Hunting the Zanpaktos  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

The sun was down when Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, Tatski, and Yoruichi arrived through the senkaimon Koga opened and Uryu stabilized. Tsumi no Rensa and I sat side by side on a bench when they emerged. I was holding my zanpakto out and shifting it between its sealed and shikai states. I sheathed my sword and rose to greet my friends.

"Welcome to Kusajishi," I said by way of greeting. "I just got off the phone with Sloth and it sounds like things have escalated since we talked last."

"What's going on?" asked Chad.

"Muramasa sent out some messages impersonating Head Captain Yamamoto to gather the captains and lieutenants at Sokyoku Hill. Once they showed up, he formally announced the zanpakto rebellion, showed off some of the zanpakto spirits he'd gathered, and ordered them to start wrecking the Seireitei. He claims he's got Head captain Yamamoto imprisoned somewhere after he tried and failed to recruit Ryu Jin Jaka."

"How's Rukia?" asked Ichigo.

"I don't know," I said. "Sloth was with her when they made their last call, but things were blowing up around them at the time."

"How do we get to the Seireitei?" asked Tatski.

I wordlessly summoned a stick, pointed my wand at it, and said, "Portus!" The stick glowed blue for a moment then resumed its normal appearance.

"Just grab hold and this single use portkey'll take you to the west gate," I said. "Orihime, would you mind staying here to test restoring broken zanpaktos?"

"Of course," said Orihime.

"I'm sending Tsumi no Rensa with you guys," I said. "Central 46 never banished him. Once our tests are done, I'll get Orihime into the gate so you guys can meet up."

* * *

As we'd hoped, Orihime's powers were able to restore a broken zanpakto and revive the spirit. The militia only had a few dozen members with enough spirit energy to bond with a zanpakto, and thanks to Muramasa's actions, every one of them now knew the name of their sword and had thus achieved shikai.

I transfigured myself to look like Ron Weasley, then apparated to the west gate with Orihime side along. I held Jidanbo's secrecy sensor still as Orihime and I entered the Seireitei. Once the massive sekiseki stone gate was lifted, we got our first look at the devastation.

The only good news was that the brainwashed zanpakto spirits had focused their fury on their soul reapers and mostly left areas populated by civilians alone. Most of the barracks had been destroyed, and the Thirteen Court Guard Squads were being managed out of temporary quarters in the mostly intact Squad 4 baraks. It was there that we met back up with Sloth, Ichigo, Tatski, Rukia, Renji, and Tsumi no Rensa.

"I'll fill Ron and Orihime in on what's happened," said Sloth. "The three of us need to do what we can for the casualties."

Once she'd taken Orihime and I to the morgue where both girls got started reviving the dead soul reapers that Squad 4 hadn't been able to save. With me using Hadji's space time reversion kido to keep her Soul Gem purified, Sloth began explaining.

"Rukia already explained what happened to the others. I didn't want to make her relive it again when you arrived."

"What happened?" asked Orihime concerned.

"I was with Rukia when Muramasa made his announcement," began Sloth. "When the fighting started, we got separated from the others. She was drawing a lot of attention from the enemy since she was the only soul reaper who could still user her shikai.

"Muramasa came for us. I took him on while Rukia guarded our backs. Muramasa's at least as tough as an espada, maybe stronger. I got a lucky hit in and was able to wrap him up with one of my yo-yo strings and reinforce it with enough magic that he couldn't break out. It could have been over right then and there, but Byakuya showed up."

"Byakuya or Senbonsakura?" I asked.

"Byakuya," confirmed Sloth. "He cut Muramasa free. Muramasa caught me in some sort of binding of his own and I'd used too much magic to break free. Byakuya grabbed Rukia and took her to Muramasa. Sode no Shirayuki's part of the rebellion now."

"Why would he do something like that?" asked Orihime.

"I don't know," said Sloth. "He blocked my attempt to find out using occlumency."

"Byakuya's an occlumens?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah, and he didn't learn it from Rukia," said Sloth. "She was just as surprised as I was when I told her."

"It might not have been him," I suggested. "Kyoka Suigetsu can't be the only illusion type zanpakto out there. Or one of the zanpaktos could be possessing him like Ritza can."

"Either way, Rukia's really upset," said Sloth. "We need to find Byakuya, drag him back, and either bring him back to his senses, or beat the shit out of him."

I took out my map and said, "Byakuya isn't in the Seireitei, and all the zanpaktos still here are with their soul reapers."

"Yuo can track him through the Rukon district," said Orihime.

"Tsumi no Rensa already tried," said Sloth. "He's hiding his spirit energy to confuse tracking spells and the Kuchki manner, where we might've found a stray hair or two, was one of the first places that got burned to the ground."

"Did everyone make it out okay?" asked Orihime.

"Homura made sure they got to safety," said Sloth.

"If she hadn't, I guess they'd be right here now," I said.

There were fewer dead than might have been expected. It was a testament, both to the durability of soul reapers and to the healing skills of Squad 4. The three of us finished reviving the dead and were brought to a room we'd be sharing with Ichigo, Chad, Tatski, and my zanpakto. To help minimize the overcrowding caused by trying to house the entire Thirteen Court Guard Squads in one barracks, Tsumi no Rensa had insisted on us all sharing the smallest room they had. A few undetectable extension charms and conjured beds made the tiny room quite comfortable.

* * *

Three sneakoscopes were set up on night stands in case an attack came in the night. Everyone had been provided with a four poster bed with privacy drapes. Sloth and I shared a bed. Before I'd drifted off to sleep, Sloth put a hand on my shoulder and quietly spoke into my ear.

"Greed, can we talk?"

I cast a quick spell to keep our voices from carrying beyond the privacy curtains of our bed and said, "Of course What is it?"

Gesturing vaguely, Sloth said, "It's about all of this, I guess. Your powers and my powers. After fighting Muramasa, my powers were used up. I couldn't risk any more until I saw you or Orihime again. I'm not saying you should stop, but it's starting to bother me that you can use your powers casually and I can't."

"That has to be frustrating," I agreed. "If there was any way I could think of to charm an object you could carry with Hadji's space time reversion kido, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"I know you would," said Sloth. "It's just this really drove home how dependent I've gotten. I'm way stronger than you, but I'm running on battery power. On my own, I don't have any way to recharge."

"If you want to switch to spirit energy, we can do that as soon as the felix felicis is done," I suggested. "It will be a one or the other sort of thing, though."

"Honestly, all the stuff you've had to do to master your soul reaper powers, like taking foreign entities into your soul and building relationships with them, almost appeal to me less than turning into a witch again. I'm proud of you for managing it, but if I decide to stop being a magical girl, I'm just going back to being an ordinary ensouled homunculus with no spirit energy whatsoever."

"I think it's been more than worth it," I said, "but it's your decision."

"I'm not really ready to give up my magical girl powers," said Sloth. "Our friends keep getting hurt or killed, and being able to fix that is still important to me. I just want to spend some more time trying to find a way for me to use my powers more freely."

"We have a lot of data on your Soul Gem, and on the witches and familiars," I said. "We could time turn ourselves a few years to study that data and experiment before Aizen makes his move."

"It's not that urgent," said Sloth. "I can wait until we're done with Aizen and the other crises we predicted. I just want to spend some real time on it afterward."

"You know, a thought occurs to me," I said. "I trained with Tsumi no Rensa to achieve bankai. The way it works is I can turn the links in my chain into copies of the people I've killed. The reason we couldn't just go back to before the fight with Ulquiora and steal a Grief Seed is we counted them right before the fight, but we know how to turn one Grief Seed into more."

"Would that work?" asked Sloth. "Could we feed the Nazis and Death Eaters you've killed to a familiar to mature it into a witch?"

"I don't know," I admitted, "but it'd be worth a try, don't you think?"

"Definitely," said Sloth. "You've got Crouch Jr. in there, right?"

"I do," I acknowledged.

"Okay, that is worth time turning over" said Sloth. "Once we deal with Muramasa, we'll go back and see if we can get unlimited Grief Seeds."

"Followed by a nice, month long vacation where we let our past selves handle all the trouble until we catch up with the present."

* * *

The next morning, we split up. The Thirteen Court Court Guard Squads had the jobs of recovering the brainwashed zanpakto spirits, finding and retrieving the captain commander, and dealing with Muramasa. Those of us who dwelt primarily in the world of the living assigned ourselves the narrower goal of finding Byakuya Kuchki.

To that end, each of us would attempt to find and defeat one of Muramasa's rogue zanpakto spirits. Interrogating one would hopefully turn up the location of Muramasa's base of operations. As Sloth was the only one of us using the Marauder's Map of the Seireitei, which meant she was the first to know when our targets of interest arrivved and called us on our soul phones.

"Ichigo," she said on her conference call, "Sode no Shirayuki's near your position. Head west. Chad, you've got two rogue zanpakto coming at you. Get your guard up. Tatski, you're closest to Chad. Get under your invisibility cloak and see if you can snipe one of them. Ron, I've got a treat for you. Ashisogi Jiso, due north."

I took a minute to transfigure my nervous system then proceeded toward Mayuri's zanpakto. The spirit was kind of cute. It took the form of a gold skinned child in a baggy robe who hovered off the ground with multicolored butterfly wings.

"Hold it right there," I ordered the spirit. Ashisogi Jiso squeaked and chirped in response. "I understand you zanpakto spirits have grievances against your soul reapers. I'm no fan of Mayuri Kurotsuchi myself. Would you like to fight him?"

Ashisogi Jiso tilted its head curiously. I couldn't tell if the spirit understood me or not. I drew my sword from where I had it concealed in an inner jacket pocket of my uniform.

"Bankai," I said. My spirit energy swelled and the sword in my hand became a length of chain. When my spiritual pressure leveled off, I said the name of my bankai, "Hofuku no Rensa."

The spirit facing me looked left and right, then turned back toward me and pointed toward the length of chain in my hand.

"That's right," I said. "This little thing is my bankai. Don't let that fool you, though. It has one hell of a special ability."

I unlinked one of the links and tossed it underhand between myself and the spirit. In a flash of blue spirit energy, the chain link transformed into Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

"Ashisogi Jiso?" asked Mayuri. "I can see that being a part of your bankai is going to be quite annoying. Wait a minute. Who are you?"

Mayuri had looked over his shoulder to see me. The transfigured disguise I used to avoid trouble with Central 46 left this Mayuri unable to recognize me by sight, even though he'd been confident of my identity by the feel of my spiritual pressure before he turned.

Ashisogi Jiso responded to that instant of distraction from Mayuri to transform into his bankai form. The enormous, baby head, haloed caterpillar spewing poison with every breath, extended blades from under its neck and charged at Mayuri. Before it hit, Ashisogi Jiso exploded.

"I see, you're using some sort of disguise," said Mayuri, completely ignoring the explosion behind him.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"How odd," said Mayuri. "I assumed you summoned me because you knew what would happen." He picked up the two pieces of the broken sword Ashisogi Jiso had reverted to. "I installed a self destruct in Ashisogi Jiso in the event he ever attacked his master."

"You know this was going to happen?" I asked.

"After learning that a treasonous soul reaper captain was in possession of a zanpakto with illusion based powers of unknown potency, some of us decided to take reasonable precautions," declared Mayuri.

"I see," I said. "Until the next time I need you." Mayuri vanished and I picked up the broken halves of Ashisogi Jiso.

There was more fighting going on elsewhere in the Seireitei. I could sense the spiritual pressure of all my friends save Tatski being exerted. I tried to determine who needed help the most then I apparated to Ichigo.

Sode no Shirayuki was nowhere to be found. Muramasa stood off to the side. Ichigo had taken on his lizard like resureccion form. He was facing down a man with wavy black hair, tinted sunglasses, and a tattered black coat that billowed in an unfelt wind. He looked exactly like Vaccine, the avatar of my quincy powers. He held a copy of Ichigo's shikai blade. For the moment, I put the questions that raised aside, drank one of my combat enhancement potions, and rushed Muramasa.

Muramasa had good reflexes, summoning his sword form into his hand to block my chainsaw whip attack on him. His spiritual pressure repaired and reinforced his blade, and my technique that should have cut through that sword like butter only managed to chip it before Muramasa flash stepped out of the way. The rogue zanpakto spirit and leader of the rebellion gathered spiritual pressure along the blade in his hand and swung at me, firing a purple beam of destructive energy.

I raised a hand as if to ward off the beam, then flared my aura an flash stepped out of the way, leaving an afterimage behind me. The ground shook as Ichigo clashed with the being that so resembled Vaccine. My deception worked and I was able to maneuver behind Muramasa. I flicked the length of chain I held like a whip to accelerate the link at the tip as much as possible, then detached it and added hundreds more. The knotted ball of tightly wrapped chains struck Muramasa in the back and I could hear bones snapping with the force of the impact.

Muramasa had far too much spirit energy for an injury like that to take him out of the fight or even significantly slow him down. He raised his left palm toward me and I could feel him attempting to penetrate my mind. I smiled.

"You're trying to hijack my senses," I said. "Make me see things that aren't there so I'll be open to your attack. At some point, I'm going to need to learn to do the same with my legelimency. Until then, let's see how you handle a psychic attack from me. Expecto Patronum!"

Muramasa raised his sword to ward off the dog made of silver light that my spell summoned, but the patronus stayed near me. He didn't notice that a dozen links from the ball of knotted chains had transformed into black cloaked dementors behind him until it was too late. Muramasa gripped his head and screamed, his sword vanishing as the dementors began feeding on his happy memories and positive emotions.

"If you'd never tried to brainwash my zanpakto, I wouldn't have the bankai that lets me summon the dementors that are eating your capacity for joy and your will to live. I told Tsumi no Rensa we'd use what you did to us to make you pay."

Blood ran down Muramasa's cheeks from his eyes and he stopped screaming to choke and cough. His body faded to transparency in places as he struggled to retain his form. The dementors drew closer to their victim. In an act of supreme will, Muramasa ripped open a hole in the air behind him.

I unsummoned the dementors, and flash stepped at Muramasa. I was too late. He closed the jagged edged garganta behind him as he retreated to Hueco Mundo. I swore in frustration then turned to Ichigo.

Ichigo had been putting out more spiritual pressure during that fight than I'd ever felt from anyone. His spiritual pressure dwarfed Grimjow in his resureccion form and was well beyond anything I'd ever felt him wield before. The being Ichigo called Zangetsu, who looked just like the spirit of my quincy powers, had used Ichigo's bankai and still been soundly defeated.

My thoughts turned to Kenpachi Zaraki. Ichigo had explained that the captain of Squad 11 was out of harmony with his sword and that because he was constantly fighting against his zanpakto's power, they diminished one another's strength instead of strengthening one another. If Muramasa had separated Kenpachi from his sword, Kenpachi's power would increase like Ichigo's just had. Something was very wrong with Ichigo's power. I took a step toward Ichigo to say something about it and I collapsed.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Muramasa has much more spirit energy than Greed does. Clever use of Tsumi no Rensa's special abilities, and calling on the special abilities of the people he's defeated using Hofuku no Rensa, lets Greed overcome enemies who outmatch him in terms of raw spirit energy. The zanpakto rebellion arc is all about learning to appreciate what your sword does for you, and Greed is getting so many reasons to be appreciative.


	46. Chapter 53: Vaccine's True Nature

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 53) Vaccine's True Nature  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

I opened my eyes and found myself in my inner world. A young man with black hair and wearing a hooded black coat was standing in front of me. I adopted a defensive stance and wrapped the length of chain in my hands around both wrists.

"Making yourself younger isn't much of a disguise, Vaccine," I said to the young man.

"My appearance isn't meant to be a disguise," said Vaccine. "When you're in bankai, those energies alter my form. That's all."

"Did you call me in here to explain what's going on?" I asked. "Or have I figured out too much already?"

"Not sure what else there is to figure out, boss," said Araña, stepping out from behind a bookshelf to stand at my side. "When you became a soul reaper, a piece of your soul bound itself to your blade to become Tsumi no Rensa. He wants nothing more than for you to use him and grow in power by doing so. When you had yourself exposed to the hogyoku, I was born out of your instincts and will to survive. I want to keep you alive and safe. He was never a part of you. He's a foreign entity Kiske used to stabilize you, but he arrived here fully formed. And if you'll recall, the only thing he ever did for you was help you beat down your survival instincts."

"Vaccine?" I prompted, not relaxing my stance, but not making a move toward him either.

"I can't let you tell Ichigo, the Visoreds, or anyone else what you know or think you know," said Vaccine. A broadsword made of the same blue spirit energy as a quincy arrow appeared in his hand, its blade wreathed in blue flames.

In a split second of hirenkyaku, he was on me, that broadsword chopping down toward my head. I got the length of chain between my hands up in time to block, but only just. Vaccine smoothly redirected his attack, pulling back and slashing sideways aiming to decapitate me. I again barely got the chain on the way.

Araña activated resureccion, reared back, and tried to impale Vaccine with one of his forelegs. Vaccine casually cut both front legs off my inner hollow with his back swing, kicked Araña hard enough to send him flying backward into a bookcase, then formed a small handheld bow in his off hand and launched a barrage of quincy arrows at Araña.

That was a death blow just as surely as the decapitation strike had been. I slung a chain link at Araña and used it as the base for a wall between Vaccine and Araña. Vaccine took advantage of my distraction to aim a sword blow at my waist. I flash stepped away from the attack, leaving an afterimage behind to be cut in half.

I needn't have bothered with the afterimage. I didn't fool Vaccine for a second. He was on me with a burst of hirenkyaku as soon as my feet planted at the end of my flash step, thrusting his broadsword at my heart. I dropped a single chain link between me and vaccine, turning it into a dementor for a fraction of a second. The dementor's indestructible body turned aside Vaccine's thrust and vanished, not existing long enough to attempt to feed on either one of us.

Vaccine was already moving to circle around me when I unsummoned the dementor. I used the precious instants while he employed his hirenkyaku to don my hollow mask. The extra speed and strength granted by my hollowfication let me turn in time to block the decapitation blow Vaccine had aimed at my neck with the chain between my hands.

Letting go of the sword, Vaccine formed a handheld bow in his left hand and fired point blank into my face, repeatedly. The arrows broke off large fragments of my mask, but before the last piece had been chipped away, and before his arrows cold blow my unprotected head off, Araña came to my rescue, grabbing Vaccine from behind and putting him in a full nelson.

"We can't kill him," said Araña. "Without him here, all we've got to look forward to is soul suicide. You have to seal him."

I wrapped a section of chain around Vaccine's neck, another around his legs, and a third around his wrists. Araña let go and I adjusted the length of those chains to leave Vaccine on the ground hogtie with his arms and legs behind his back. I let the last fragment of my mask crumble as I wrapped a length of chain to one of the bookshelves and linked it to Vaccine's bindings, stringing hm up so he'd be eye to eye.

"I know you've got a bakudo spell that'll hold him for a thousand years or so," said Araña. "What are you waiting for? Just do it."

"I don't take orders from you," I reminded the hollow. "It's the other way around. I am not just locking the problem away for a thousand years. I am dealing with it right here and now, and the first step is getting to the bottom of exactly what's going on."

"How are you going to do that?" asked Araña.

"Legelimense!" I called out a I locked eyes with Vaccine.

I felt no resistance as images of Uryu declaring soul reapers and quincies enemies and Soken expressing his distrust for the soul reapers flashed before my mind's eye.

I broke the connection, spat at the floor, and said, "Pathetic. You didn't even pretend to resist the legelimency and you expect me to believe that explains everything?"

"You won't learn anything," said Vaccine. "Kill me. Seal me. It doesn't matter."

"You've forgotten who you're dealing with," I said. "Occlumency relies on emotional control, and I am more than up to the task of breaking yours. Araña, watch him while I get things ready for his interrogation."

"I still think you should just petrify him and have done with it," said Araña. "He wouldn't be alive to give us trouble and he wouldn't be dead to trigger soul suicide."

"That's plan B," I said. "Just hold him while I prep plan A."

I rounded a corner and summoned a single dementor. It turned its sightless head drawing a long, rattling breath as it tried to get its bearings.

"Stop," I told the creature and it obeyed. "Your kind have served many masters. The Dark Lord Voldemort, the Ministry of Magic. You have a new master now. I'm the one who killed you and there's nothing you can do about it. I have the power to call you into being and banish you into nonexistence with a thought. It's already happened to you more than once. You have two choices. You can serve me willingly, obey my commands and I will call you up when there are opportunities to slake your hunger. Or you can defy me and your existence will be a constant stream of being herded by patronuses. Either way, your existence is now permanently bound to mine so even if you could kill me, it would only serve to end you as well."

In a low whisper as the dementor drew breath, I made out the words, "We obey."

I nodded. "Follow me and don't feed until I say."

"He'll burn this soul in a heartbeat," said Vaccine as I rounded the corner.

"The trouble with trying to recruit Araña for a coup is he's smart enough to know that reign'll last just long enough for Sloth to kill us. Then the other me starts over. He also knows I like my new powers too much to give them up without a fight."

I turned to the dementor and pointed at Vaccine. "Feed on him just enough to break down his resistance. I'll be using legelimency on him. Don't effect anyone else."

The dark creature did its work. When Vaccine fell limp with tears streaming down his face, the dementor stopped and glided backward a step. I took Vaccine by the chin, lifted his head to meet my gaze and called out, "Legelimense!"

This time I felt the reflexive attempt to keep me out. I broke through and learned who and what Vaccine really was.

The story started over a thousand years ago. A baby was born blind, deaf, mute, and immobile. The baby was worshiped as holy because he had an extraordinary ability. He could implant pieces of his soul into anyone he touched. Those soul fragments, like the horcrux in Harry, bolstered and strengthened their hosts. Through the child's power, the blind saw and the lame walked.

The soul fragments remained with their hosts for a time, absorbing the skills and powers the host possessed until they were called back to the child. The hosts died, their strength stolen by the child. Through this stolen strength, he was able to shake off his blindness and deafness. He could stand and speak. But his stolen strength wasn't permanent. Over time it faded away, forcing him to continuously take more lest he revert to the blind, deaf, paralyzed state he started in. Even so, this stolen strength slowed his ageing process and allowed him to live for centuries.

The child took the name of Yhwach, after the name of the god people attributed his powers to. Yhwach grew up to be an ambitious conqueror, claiming many lands in the world of the living and spreading his influence wide.

When those with whom Yhwach had shared his soul had children, those children were also born with a soul shard of Yhwach within them. This was the beginning of a new spiritually aware race that would eventually learn to harness their powers and become known as the quincies.

The soul shards were much like Tom's diary horcrux, each carrying a copy of the original consiousness broken off at the time of its creation. The being I had been calling Vaccine had all of Yhwach's memories up until he had been implanted in an early proto-quincy, memories from his time in that proto-quincy until the point where his next host had been concieved, all the way down the line until an arrow had been taken from Uryu to stabilize my soul.

Whenever the bearer of one of those shards died, the shard would return automatically to Yhwach, taking the victim's spiritual power with it. This obviously only occurred upon the death of the spiritual body, not just the death of the physical body. Yhwach could still recover the shards at will, stealing their host's spiritual powers, the shock of which was generally fatal.

Vaccine had been inside a quincy warrior a thousand years ago, when Yhwach invaded the Soul Society. Point of fact he'd been inside several, since when two shard bearers had a child together, the child's two inherited shards merged. During Yhwach's battle with Head Captain Yamamoto, he had been beaten and broken. Yhwach's heart no longer beat, but he didn't properly die. His body had been taken by the survivors of his army and hidden in the shadow realm of the Soul Society.

"As long as one quincy lives, Yhwach can't properly die," I said. "But the genocide that might have severed those anchors has only been restoring his strength."

"His return to life was foretold," said Vaccine. With his mental barriers broken down, he couldn't lie to me without my knowing. "In nine hundred years, the sealed king would regain his heartbeat. In ninety years, he would regain his mind. In nine years, he would regain his power."

"What's going on?" asked Araña.

"Vaccine's a horcrux," I said, "like he one in Harry."

"Don't you tell me we have to die over this," said Araña.

The dementor glided subtly closer to Araña, but I waved it back.

"We fought Dumbledore so Harry wouldn't have to die," I reminded the hollow. "Dying now would be pointless and dying at all is still something I'd rather avoid."

At that point, Tsumi no Rensa appeared near us and said, "What's going on? Ichigo said you just collapsed. Sloth and Orihime have been trying to revive you."

"You can't wake up until you decide what to do with him," said Araña, gesturing at the chained up Vaccine.

"Can you go out and let the others know I'm okay?" I asked. "I need to finish this."

"All right," said the spirit of my zanpakto. "I'll catch up on what happened here in the library later." Then he was gone.

"What are you going to do with me?" asked Vaccine.

I sighed, conjured a chair, and sat down in it. "Nothing I saw explains why we have to be enemies. Yhwach is a deranged psychopath worse than Voldemort. I could fix the frailty in his soul that forces him to feed on war and death and he'd turn me down. But you aren't him. You haven't been him for over a thousand years. Why do you even want to act in his interests?"

"It's why I was created," said Vaccine. "I've spent a thousand years watching the lengths humans and soul reapers will go to in order to find some meaning behind their existence. Unlike them, I've always known what my purpose was."

"Sloth was made for a purpose too," I said. "Your creators were both utter failures as human beings. You don't have to be limited by Yhwach's marrow vision of what you're for any more than she's limited to what Shao made her."

"I tried to kill you just now," said Vaccine. "Why are you doing this?"

"It's the lesson of my bankai," I said, gesturing at the chains holding him. "The people I kill stay with me. I have to come to terms with them one way or another. I might as well try to bring you around now rather than seal you and try to bring you around in a decade, a century, a millennium."

"You won't survive that long regardless," said Vaccine sadly. "Yhwach is already awake and gathering power. When he calls, I'll have no choice. Whether I want to or not, whether I'm sealed or not, I'll be drawn back to him, stealing your power with me."

"He's hiding in the shadows of the Soul Society, right?" I asked. "Soken warned me not to reveal my quincy powers here. It wasn't the soul reapers he was worried about. He was trying to protect me, Ichigo, and the Visoreds from being targeted by Yhwach."

"That seems reasonable," said Vaccine.

"He wouldn't be trying to protect me if he thought it was hopeless," I said.

"Soken Ishida fled from Yhwach's city hidden in the shadows long ago," said Vaccine. "He was a coward, not a revolutionary."

"You haven't been apart of him since before Uryu's father was born," I pointed out. "People can change, and it's a lot easier to just give up when it's just you you're fighting for. Besides, he has resources now he didn't have before."

"No matter how much he's changed," said Vaccine, "he can't defeat Yhwach."

"Yhwach is an insignificant speck compared to Kyubey. So whichever one of us is right about Soken, I'm going to beat Yhwach too. The only question is whether I'll do it with your help or in spite of your resistance."

"The Oin, an army of dementors, and the full support of the soul reapers won't be enough," said Vaccine, "but if you're determined to defy destiny, I won't willingly stand in your way. And if you can find a way for me to deny his call and survive his death, I'll support you to the ends of the earth and beyond."

The chain vanished and Vaccine stood. I clasped his hand in affirmation of our promise and opened my eyes.

I was lying on my back beneath Orhime's oval healing shield. The orange light from the shield was shifted red by the magic Sloth was adding to the effort. Captain Retsu Unohana of Squad 4 was leaning over my bedside checking my condition. Tsumi no Rensa paced a short distance away.

"Greed, what happened?" asked Sloth.

"I'm confused," said Captain Unohana gently. "I thought his name was Ron. Surely this can't be Squad 5's former captain, since he's been ordered not to set foot in the Seireitei."

"You're right," said Sloth. "I was confused for a moment."

"We do still need to know what happened to you," said Captain Unohana. "If this is some lingering side effect of Muramasa's abilities, we'll need to be prepared to treat it in others."

"I don't think an ordinary soul reaper would have this reaction," I said, sitting up. "My various powers got out of balance. I'd guess Ichigo is the only other person at risk, and it's even odds I was just particularly susceptible."

"Are you okay?" asked Sloth.

"I am for now," I said. "After we deal with Muramasa, I need to resolve some things with my inner spirits, but for right now, I'm just fine."

"Then if you're up for it," said Tsumi no Rensa, "Let's get the zanpaktos everyone brought back healed then go find Muramasa's lair."

* * *

Author's comments:  
The inner world and the spirits that dwelt there was always one of my favorite aspects of Bleach. The different avatars of a character's power having different goals and motivations that lead them into conflict with their host, forming alliances amongst themselves or with the main personality was really fun to write.


	47. Chapter 54: The End of Muramasa

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 54) The End of Muramasa  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

The zanpakto spirits we'd freed from Muramasa's brainwashing knew exactly where he was basing his operations out of. There was a cave in the Rukon District, quite large and with two exits to the surface. Captain Commander Yamamoto was being held in a lower chamber by the strongest zanpakto spirits Muramasa had been able to acquire.

The plan was simple. Yoruichi and the rest of our party from the world of the living would enter through one entrance while the soul reaper captains would enter from the other. The enemy forces could still retreat using a garganta if Muramasa made it back himself, but it was unlikely they could safely transport Yamamoto if they did retreat.

Yamamoto's zanpakto, Ryu Jin Jaka, was the oldest zanpakto in existence and was broadly acknowledged as the most powerful in the Soul Society. Tsumi no Rensa didn't want to hear it, but Ryu Jin Jaka having resisted Muramasa's powers when no other zanpakto had spoke for itself. The raw power of the captain commander and his blade had led Muramasa to seal them, so breaking that seal would end the battle. If we ran into opposition, the plan was to leave behind the smallest force to fight a delaying action while the rest of the group proceeded to the objective.

The first group we ran into consisted of two spirits. One had the appearance of a tall, red skinned, fire breathing ogre, while the other was a thin, pale skinned man wearing a backpack wired to a spear. Sloth rushed the pair with her palm extended. The red light of her healing magic washed over the pair. They blinked in confusion then got out of our way.

"Good job," declared Yoruichi. "It looks like we might not have to fight at all."

"It's not much differant from burning away a witch's kiss," said Sloth. "That's what Muramasa gets for defending his base with brainwashed slaves."

There were about a dozen zanpakto spirits between us and our destination, but thanks to Sloth's powers, we didn't even have to slow down. Our party arrived in the room Yamamoto was being held in before the captains. The head captain was seated cross legged in a mediation pose. He was sealed on bare earth inside a glowing green pyramid of light.

Muramasa was waiting for us. At his sides were Byakuya an an armored figure I was able to identify as the spirit of Byakuya's sword, Senbonsakura.

"Byakuya," declared Ichigo, "I don't know what you've been trying to do, but Rukia's been worried sick."

"Ichigo Kurosaki," said Byakuya, "noen of this concerns you. If you will not cease your interference and return home, I will be forced to cut you down."

"I don't think so," said Yoruihchi. Somehow she'd gotten behind him. Byakuya slashed an afterimage of her in half as she appeared near us in a flash step I would have needed a super sensory potion to follow. "I'll keep Byakuya busy. Sloth, deal with Senbonsakura. Ichigo, you take Muramasa. Everyone else, get that barrier down."

Byakuya and Yoruichi engaged in a high speed game of tag while Ichigo activated his bankai and rushed Muramasa. Sloth tried healing Senbonsakura, but since the default result of that would be to put him back in harmony with Byakuya, that didn't take him out of the fight like it did the others. Senbonsakura activated his bankai, summoning hundreds of enormous sword blades that broke apart into millions of shards the size of flower petals. Whether from his spirit energy controlling them or just from the way they caught the light, each piece of shrapnel glowed pink.

Chad summoned his right arm's defensive form to guard us from the right. Orihime brought up her triangular shield to guard our left. Tsumi no Rensa and I twirled chains in t he back and front of our formation respectively. Between us, we managed to keep the shards of Senbonsarkura's bankai safely away from Tatski, who had her kido gun raised in the center and was looking for a pause in the high speed combat where she could get a shot off.

We reached the barrier and reoriented so Orihime could use her powers to penetrate the barrier like she had done to the barrier around the Visoreds' warehouse. The three rika switched from producing their glowing orange triangular shield to opening a triangular gap in the green barrier around Yamamoto.

The ancient soul reaper opened his eyes in shock and said, "You fools!"

The instant the gap opened, Muramasa lost all interest in Ichigo and rushed at us. He released a pulse of energy through the gap in the barrier and suddenly the barrier shattered from the intense spiritual pressure of an explosion of flames. Tsumi no Rensa and I managed to cover our nearby friends in a mound of chain links that ablated away as they cushioned us from the explosion.

When the protective barrier of chain links was removed, the landscape had been rearranged. The explosion had blasted away the earth above us so what had formerly been a cave was now open to the sky. Sloth, Ichigo, and Yoruichi were standing near Yamamoto while Muramasa, Byakuya, and Senbonsakura stod in the air. A massive wall of intense flames ringed the entire area.

Muramasa'd played us. Ryu Jin Jaka hadn't resisted Muramasa's power. Head Captain Yamamoto had protected his zanpakto from being exposed to that power by sealing himself inside that barrier. Thanks to our rescue attempt, Muramasa now had control of Ryu Jin Jaka.

"You've all been most helpful," gloated Muramasa. Before he could continue, he was struck by a small orb of pink light that exploded on impact.

"Finally!" declared Tatski. "I thought he'd never stand still long enough to get a hit in on him."

Muramasa was bleeding badly from a serious looking chest wound. Only his immense spirit energy kept him from collapsing and bleeding out here and now. Even that was only delaying the inevitable. Without medical attention, Muramasa was going to die. Byakuya and Senbonsakura caught Muramasa, supported him, and carried him beyond the ring of flames.

Ichigo and Yoruichi tried to pursue, but Ryu Jin Jaka's flames forced them back. More jets of fire hurled at us from the ring. I cast flame freezing charms, but dodged anyway. I carried Tatski with me, since she was the only one of us without a high speed movement technique.

"You do not realize what you have done," rumbled Yamamoto.

"Don't worry," said Tsumi no Rensa. "We'll help you beat some sense into your sword then we can go after Byakuya together. Muramasa too if he's still alive by then, I guess."

"Muramasa has not gone off to die," declared Yamamoto. "He is going to Karakura Town."

"Why would he go there?" asked Orihime alarmed.

"Is he after the Oken too?" I guessed.

"No," said Yamamoto. "He has gone to free his master Koga."

"And why would this Koga guy be in Karakura Town?" demanded Ichigo.

"Forging the Oken is just one use for a Jureshi," said Yamamoto. "The dense spirit energy in such a place can be tapped into to create barriers and seals which can endure a thousand years without renewal. Koga was a dangerous soul reaper who once attempted to lead a rebellion against the Seireitei. Between his great spiritual power, his skill as a warrior, and his ability to attack the minds of his enemies, I was only able to seal him away. New, Muramasa seeks to release him from his imprisonment. That cannot be allowed."

"Do you have any idea why Byakuya would be helping him?" asked Yoruchi.

"Koga married into the Kuchki clan and served with distinction until he became corrupted by his own power," said Yamamoto. "Byakuya's grandfather fought at my side when we sealed Koga away. I cannot imagine why he would be helping Muramasa."

"Look over there!" said Ichigo indicating an opening back into the cave complex that was mostly covered with rubble. As Ryu Jin Jaka's flames were keeping us from leaving the area by air, we might be able to go under the ring of fire.

"It's worth a try," said Yoruichi. "Shunko!" Electrical energy surged along Yoruichi's back and shoulders,blasting her shirt apart. The backless, black undershirt she wore was identical to the one Soi Fon wore. It was clearly a garment designed for users of this technique.

With electrically based kido enhancing the power of her already formidable punch, Yoruiichi cleared away the rubble blocking our path in a single hit. The path beyond looked clear.

"You have got to teach me that move sometime," I said as I joined the others heading into the tunnel.

We paused when it became clear Yamamoto wasn't following us. Sloth said, "If you're staying to get Ryu Jin Jaka under control, some of us can stay to help."

"I can handle disciplining my disobedient sword," said Yamamoto. "You will need all of your strength if Muramasa succeeds in releasing Koga."

We nodded our acknowledgement and left. Muramasa had a head start, but I had a way to minimize that advantage. I took out my soul phone and called my homunuculus self back in the world of the living.

* * *

Forewarned about what we were up against, Sloth and I each popped a Mad Eye in our left eye socket and followed Uryu to where he sensed the newly arrived Byakuya, Senbonsakura, and Muramasa. Their apparent target was a small lake in an out of the way forest area adjacent to the town proper. That lake had a tiny island on it dominated by a single large tree. That must be where Koga was sealed.

Once we got into the woods, Sloth and I donned the Ultimate Shield. Our skin turned dark grey as the carbon in our bodies reconfigured their bonds to make us more durable than diamond. We didn't look remotely human in this form. We were bald, with no visible ears. Despite not having lips and our visible teeth being locked together, we could still speak. A lot of people found it unnerving. None of those people dealt with hollows on a regular basis, so all we got out of using this form was the durability boost.

Byakuya and Senbonsakura had carried the mortally wounded Muramasa to the island. Muramasa's lips were moving at a steady pace. I guessed he was performing a kido chant. Uryu, Sloth, and I picked our targets and attacked.

A barrage of hundreds of glowing blue quincy arrows soared toward the back of Byakuya Kuchki. Sloth and I took flying leaps across the lake aiming for our opponents. Senbonsakura flash stepped out of the way as Sloth landed, punching a crater in the ground where the sword spirit had been standing. Byakuya likewise flash stepped aside on response to Uryu's arrows.

Muramasa laid on his back with blood pouring from his chest wound. I couldn't hear his words, but he kept chanting. He wasn't my target.

I landed facing the tree. I let Sloth and Uryu deal with the two combat capable opponents. My Mad Eye saw through the illusion of the tree, to the emaciated man sealed in a coffin, impaled by halberds.

"A zanpakto is born with its soul reaper and dies with its soul reaper," I said to Muramasa as I took out six frizbee sized metal disks with engraved transmutation circles and embedded red stones. "I've been working on this technique to use on Aizen. I'd call this a rare opportunity to test it."

I tossed the disks in the vague direction of the barrier. A glowing red transmutation circle appeared on my right palm. I didn't have a soul in right now, but I'd gotten very good at using my shape shifting powers to manipulate arrays fueled by red stones to achieve the same effects, in this case using the red stones in my body that fueled my superhuman strength and regenerative powers.

The disks glowed red and positioned themselves surrounding Koga's barrier. One dug itself into the ground beneath. The disks flattened out, enclosing the barrier inside a cube of metal glowing with crimson alchemic light. With the Mad Eye, I could see what was happening inside. The innermost layer of the cube flaked off, gathering into a sphere, leaving only a thin shell of alchemically reinforced lead. Muramasa completed his spell to release Koga, but even as the black coffin sealing him burned away, my prepared alchemy transmuted the lead sphere into a dense ball of compressed plutonium.

The red stones on each face of the cube continued to reinforce and reconstruct the lead shell that kept the nuclear explosion contained. The bright light of the contained detonation prevented me from seeing much of anything inside the box, but the Mad Eye didn't cause me any pain from the brightness when I tried. Muramasa screamed in despair and agony as the blast went off.

He was still screaming when the red stone at the top of the box burnt out. The instant that happened, a jet of flame shot straight up. This had been by design. The five still active arrays focused and channeled all of the energy in that blast straight up, sparing Karakura Town, not to mention those of us standing right next to the box, both the heat and the shock wave. The last step was for the box ot deconstruct itself with the last remaining energy of the red stones.

Muramasa didn't die. He changed. A wash of hollow-like spirit energy accompanied the formation of a white mask over his face. His wrists grew white blades and tooth like ridges ringed the hollow hole that opened in the center of his chest. Gilleons formed out of the spirit energy Muramasa shed in the course of stabilizing into this new form.

Somehow, Muramasa had been absorbing hollows to serve as an alternate energy source to keep himself manifested as he worked to free Koga. When I killed Koga, severing his connection to his soul reaper, Muramasa still had an energy source, but those energies were thrown wildly out of balance with some of the consumed hollows escaping his body and others transforming him into this bizarre hollowfied state. There was still enough of Muramasa's consciousness in there to hate me for what I'd done to Koga.

He pointed one of his bladed arms at me and fired a machine gun like barrage of purple balas. They weren't strong enough to penetrate the Ultimate Shield, but they tore up the ground under my feet, shredded my utility belt, and shattered the Mad Eye in my left socket, blinding me to spiritual beings. As a result, my first clue that he was charging a much more powerful cero was when it hit me with enough raw force to shatter my Ultimate Shield and disintegrate my head.

My Visored self arrived while homunculus me was regenerating his head. Ichigo, Yoruichi, and Sloth had come directly, while Chad, Orihime, and Tatski had to wait for a spirit particle conversion senkaimon. With any luck, the captains and lieutenants would be coming to reinforce us soon.

Ichigo rushed Muramasa with his bankai, letting me get to my homunculus self. Yoruichi took the pressure off Sloth so she could likewise merge with her other self. Byakuya and Senbonsakura went back to back, then raised their hands in surrender. Tsumi no Rensa wrapped chains around both sword and wielder's neck and wrists.

"If you try anything, I'll cut your head off," said Tsumi no Rensa. "And I'd like to avoid doing that until you've had a chance to apologize to Rukia. Again."

"We have to keep this fight contained," said Yoruichi.

"One barrier coming up," said Sloth. "Greed, get over here and keep me charged."

Sloth surrounded the battlefield with a dome of crimson light. I flash stepped to her and encased her in the square, orange space time reversion kido barrier.

"I'll handle the gilleons," declared Tsumi no Rensa. "Yoruichi, help Ichigo."

Tsumi no Rensa's chainsaw whip decapitated the enormous, black robed Menos Grande as fast as he could flash step between them. When one attempted to charge a cero he twirled his chain above his head to launch a single link like a sling bullet right into the unstable ball of charging energy, disrupting it and causing it to blow up in the gilleon's face.

Ichigo and Yoruichi were racing circles around the hollowfied creature that had once been Muramasa. Yoruichi again used shunko to enhance her punches and kicks with lightning based kido. Ichigo took advantage of the openings she created, firing a getsuga tensho of black spirit energy at Muramasa. Both of them were moving too fast for Muramasa to counterattack. Even his rapid fire balas were easily dodged.

Despite the damage they were doing, or perhaps because of it, the hollow energies inside Muramasa continued to grow and destabilize. A massive garganta opened in the sky as Muramasa's form wavered and destabilized. His body lost any sense of coherent form instead ballooning into an expanding dome of distorted flesh.

Hundreds of gilleons poured out of the garganta. Uryu and Tsumi no Rensa couldn't kill them fast enough. Ichigo and Yoruichi pulled back from Muramasa just in time to avoid being absorbed by the rapidly expanding mass. With no idea what to do about the dome, they joined the effort to fend off the invading gilleons.

"I have an idea about how to close the garganta," said Byakuya. "Let me go and I can help."

With a thought, I removed the chains binding his wrists. The one wrapped around his neck, I left. Byakuya and Senbonsakura ignored the invading Menos and flash stepped to the garganta itself. At the edges of the rip in the sky, both of htem poured their spirit energy into the breach. The garganta had been torn open by the massive concentration of hollow energy. By forcing that energy out of the way with his soul reaper energy, Byakuya could, in theory, remove the hollow energy propping it open and cause it to close. Unfortunately, neither he, nor his zanpakto had enough spirit energy to do the job.

Suddenly, the barrier Sloth had been holding up went down. She pointed as dozens of soul reapers arrived. Some joined Byakuya in trying to close the garganta. Others attacked the menos already in the world of the living. I caught sight of Momo, removed the Ultimate Shield so she'd recognize me, and I called out to her.

"Lieutenant Hinamori! Momo! I need your help!"

Momo flash stepped to me, alongside a girl who looked to be about ten with a long sash draped over her shoulders with oversized bells tied to each end. I recognized her as one of the zanpakto spirits Sloth had freed from Muramasa's mind control as we tried to rescue Yamamoto.

"Captain Greed-" began Momo. At a look from her zanpakto, she caught herself and corrected, "I mean, Greed, what is it?"

"That dome over there is Muramasa self destructing in slow motion," I said. "No one can get near it or they'll risk getting pulled in. You, me, and Sloth need to surround it and cast space expansion charms. That way it can expand to its limit, finish self destructing, and avoid causing any more damage."

"Right," said Momo, nodding. "Toboyume, go help seal the garganta. Once it's closed, help clean up the gilleons."

The zanpakto spirit nodded. Sloth, Momo, and I took our positions, drew wands, and began casting. I considered summoning some Death Eaters with my bankai, but even if I could make them recognize the need to obey me on such short notice, their spirit energy was low enough that they wouldn't be able to withstand the spiritual pressure in this area. It was the same reason our reinforcements had consisted solely of captains, lieutenants, their zanpaktos, and officers with a like level of spirit energy such as Ikaku, Yumichika, and Rukia.

Our combined efforts paid off. The garganta was sealed, the gilleons were slain, and the space expansion charms kept the dome contained until it finished self destructing. Everyone was drained and exhausted, but it was finally over.

Byakuya claimed that he had joined Muramasa in an effort to locate Koga and end the threat he posed to the Soul Society and to clean away the stain he represented on the Kuchki clan's reputation. He willingly agreed to return to the Soul Society to stand trial, though he made his apologies to Rukia the moment the battle was over.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Momo learning the space expansion spells was something I'd been hoping I'd find an opportunity to make relevant later on. I'd considered using it for the fight with Kusaka, but since I couldn't find a way for him to reach the point of being able to activate the Oin, this was the first opportunity.


	48. Chapter 55: Secret History of the Quincy

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 55) The Secret History of the Quincies  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

When the soul reapers had gone, save for those stationed in the world of the living for when Aizzen made his move, and our living friends had made it back, I took Uryu aside and asked him if we could discuss a quincy matter privately.

"What's this about?" he asked as soon as he, Sloth, and I had gathered in one of the rooms of the mansion the soul reapers hadn't been told about.

"It's about Yhwach," I said. "When we were in the Soul Society, I learned that every person with quincy powers derives them from a sentient fragment of Yhwach's soul. Those pieces of his soul inside every quincy serve as anchors that ensured that when he faced Yamamoto a thousand years ago, he didn't die."

"None hundred ninety seven years ago," said Uryu.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Because a little over seven years ago, Yhwach killed my mother," said Uryu. "He reached out from wherever he's hiding and stole her power to begin the nine year process of regaining his own. Even now that she's back, her powers are gone for good."

"Greed, what exactly happened," asked Sloth.

I explained to both of them what had happened. I wanted to warn Ichigo, but with the way Vaccine had reacted when I put the pieces together combined with the fact that the horcrux in Ichigo was masquerading as his zanpakto, I was concerned telling him might get him killed.

"Why don't we talk to the horcrux first?" suggested Sloth. "Yours was willing to listen to reason. He should still be capable of staying manifested on his own like the other zanpakto spirits Muramasa effected."

"That's a good idea," I said.

"Meanwhile, let's talk about how we're going to keep you alive and still kill off the thousand year old dark wizard who made an entire race his horcruxes," said Sloth.

"Based on what you say happened in your inner wrold," said Uryu, "it sounds like convincing Ichigo's shard will be a lot easier if the original Yhwach is already dead. I think we should go talk to my grandfather."

I took Sloth and Uryu by the hand and apparated to the Karakura hospital. Soken Ishida's spirit energy was detectable on an upper floor office. Uryu led the way. He indicated Sloth and I should wait outside the office while Uryu went in and fetched Soken. Uryu brought Soken out and we headed up to the roof where we could talk privately.

"Have you shared these insights with anyone from the Soul Society?" asked Soken when I'd finished giving my explanation.

"No," I said. "I implied it was Muramasa manifesting my zanpakto throwing my hollow powers out of balance."

"Please forgive me for not being honest with you before," said Soken. "I had hoped that it would put you in less danger if you thought I was asking you to conceal your quincy powers in the Seireitei because I didn't trust the soul reapers.

"The truth is this. Yhwach is not omniscient. Not yet. Until his powers fully awaken, he knows only what he can discover through conventional means. Because he dwells in the shadows of the Seireitei along with his army of followers, we must assume he knows everything spoken of in the Seireitei.

"Yhwach's power of Auswahlen, which he uses to steal the powers of those who carry shards of his soul, requires that he select them. If he did not know that those of you who had taken Kiske Urahara's vaccine were vulnerable he would not think to target you."

"What do you mean, 'he's not omniscient yet'?" I asked alarmed.

"When he made war on the Soul Society a thousand years ago, he possessed the ability to see the future, all possible futures. His foresight had blind spots, which was how he was able to be defeated in the first place, but they were very few. His power is returning even as we speak, but that ability will be among the last he regains."

"What do you know about his army?" asked Sloth.

"Among his inner circle, any one of them has the power and ambition to be a threat to the world," said Soken. "Without their leader holding them together with a unifying purpose, I expect they would fall to infighting until one of them rallies the survivors."

"And the quickest, surest path to restoring unity would be finding some way to resurrect their leader," I noted. "We have to eliminate his followers too if we want this over."

"When we found out Harry had to die to kill Tom, we came up with options that didn't require his horcuxes to be destroyed," said Sloth. "Mind wiping him, petrifying him, feeding his main soul fragment to a dementor so there'd be nothing left for the horcrux to anchor."

"We have a way to end him," said Uryu. "A quincy arrow destroys souls. The problem is getting the chance to kill him with one."

"I'm not sure I trust a plan that relies on powers he granted being his one weakness," I said.

"You must think the generations of quincies who lived before you very foolish," said Soken in an amused if slightly patronizing tone. "You have been practicing quincy techniques for about a month now. What would you say is the most difficult technique to learn?"

"I can't walk using reshi strings yet, but I can use them to control my arm while I drink a glass of water," I said considering. "On the other hand, I still haven't been able to form a working bow."

Soken nodded. "There is no quincy technique more difficult to learn than forming a bow and releasing an arrow."

"You're saying Yhwach didn't create the technique when he made the quincies," said Sloth.

"The history of the quincies as a people begins," explained Soken, "with scholars discovering the reason that some spiritually aware people died young. When we came to understand what Yhwach was doing to us, we looked for a solution. The quincy arrow was developed as a tool to assassinate Yhwach, destroying his main soul utterly so whatever shards remained would carry no further risks to their bearers.

"What we didn't understand at first was that when he died, he consumed more than our spirit energy. He also consumed our knowledge and skills. He was ready when those quincies came for him, and after killing the assassins in a heartbeat with Auswahlen, he thought the technique to his ever growing army of loyal followers.

"After that failure, small groups of quincies worked in secret, studying Yhwah's powers and seeking a way to end him. To keep Yhwach from learning of them, they recruited only those quincies who had finished having children and every one of them died to a quincy arrow to ensure no soul shard returned to Yhwach. It was an imperfect system with some enclaves dying out from lack of new members, and others being discovered and wiped out by Yhwach and his loyalists.

"One such enclave created this," Soken took out the quincy bangle that emulated quincy powers. "As you well know, this tool can be used only a short time. Not even long enough to train a novice in its use. Yet, in the hands of a quincy who has already been trained but had lost his powers, it allows him to fight at a very high level."

"Like someone who'd been effected by Auswhalen and survived," I said, following his line of reasoning. "Yhwach had already stolen their powers so he couldn't do it again to save himself from an assassin wielding one of these."

"I hadn't realized how important it was and might have destroyed it fighting Karia," said Uryu.

"Something else is missing," I observed. "Otherwise, you'd have made your move against Yhwach by now."

"His followers," said Uryu. "We could use one of your invisibility cloaks to infiltrate the city, reach Yhwach, and kill him, but it would be a one way trip. The assassin would be discovered almost as soon as the arrow was loosed. Even with the cloak, they wouldn't make it out alive."

"And as you noted, his followers would seek to resurrect him," added Soken.

"They're in the shadows of the Seireitei, right?" said Sloth. "Do the sekiseki stone walls act as a barrier on their side as well?"

"They do," confirmed Soken.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"Fiendfyre," said Sloth. "You go in with Uryu's mom, she kills Yhwach, then you burn their city down with fiendfyre, portkeying out as soon as you start it up."

"Couldn't they escape into the Seireitei through any shadow?" I said.

"Not if there aren't any shadows," said Sloth. "We hit the Seireitei itself with a few tons of Peruvian instant darkness powder. No light means no shadows, means no exit to use to escape the fiendfyre."

"Where are we going to get tons of instant darkness powder?" I asked.

"Well, we were planning on time turning ourselves a nice, month long vacation," said Sloth. "I have to figure two NEWT certified potion makers like us ought to be able to analyze the samples we have and work out either the original recipe or an equivalent in that time. From there it's just a matter of getting raw ingredients and making enough automatons to make it in a reasonable time."

"There are portals that don't rely on shadows in the Seireitei," said Soken. "Those would need to be destroyed as well for this plan to succeed."

"And since you've been away for decades, you can't be sure where they all are," I noted. "We'd need to grab and interrogate a current resident."

"You have the tools for that," noted Uryu. "Are you with us?"

"I need to make a few changes," I said. "First off, I can't be the one who casts the fiendfyre, and not just because I'm still not completely over thee last city I burned. No one I kill stays dead. They just became a part of my bankai. If we want them put down permanently, I can't be the one who does it."

"They'd be useful to you," said Tsumi no Rensa from inside my soul. "In time, Yhwach's army would become your army."

"It's a pointless risk," argued Araña. "If Yhwach can just will us dead, we shouldn't even be considering preserving the people who'd want to bring him back."

"I've already made my decision," I thought back firmly.

"I can cast the spell if you're sure," said Sloth.

"I am," I said. "I'll perform the legelimency and make sure all the gates are sealed."

"Is that all?" asked Soken.

"I think so," I said. "When can we get started?"

"The sooner the better," said Soken. "Each day Yhwach grows stronger and more difficult to kill. As soon as you are prepared, we'll go over the final details and set out."

* * *

"Do you want to talk about what happened in the Soul Society?" asked Sloth as we walked away from the hospital.

"I'm not sure what there is to talk about," I said. "All three parts of my soul have tried to kill me at one point or another. I'm at peace with all of them now and hopefully after Yhwach is dead, that'll be the end of it."

"If you change your mind, you know I'm always here for you," said Sloth.

"I know. Thanks," I said. "I think I really need this vacation. Some time to ourselves where we can do some research, even if it is something as simple as analyzing instant darkness powder, without any crises interrupting us."

"That reminds me," said Sloth. "Since you're getting to be adding on to the underground sections of the mansion anyway to give us a place to wait out our personal histories, I'd like a swimming pool."

"That does sound nice," I said. "Once we got through our initial swimming lessons, being in the water did feel relaxing."

I drew my wand and cast the hour reversal charm for us. Using a time turner meant consistently going back one hour for each turn. The spell was a bit less consistent. The amount of time you want back depended on how much energy you put into it. Given how far back we were traveling, the spell was much more convenient than turning the hourglass hundreds of times.

We arrived the night before Ulquiora and Yami arrived. Thanks to the property of the spell that caused us to arrive in the past at the closest paradox free location to our past selves, the two of us arrived in our bedroom. the sneakoscope on our night stand remained silent and still. It would light up, spin, and shriek an alarm in the presence of someone doing something untrustworthy. The two of us borrowing a handful of Grief Seeds fully intending to return them before morning didn't qualify. The Grief Seeds in hand, we headed down to the lab.

"Okay, I'll start by expanding the space at the bottom of the lab," I said, casting the needed charms.

"I'll transmute our new suite of rooms," said Sloth. She clapped and touched a wall. Sparks of blue light accompanied the large space dividing into rooms, ending with a blank wall sealing off the space we'd just created and leaving the lab looking unchanged. Joining hands, the two of us stepped through the wall and into the hidden part of the lab where we'd be spending the next month.

"I'll conjure some furniture once we return the Grief Seeds," I said. "Which witch should we start with?"

"The butterfly rosebush," said Sloth. "I'll beat her down. You drag a familiar out. I hope this works."

"Me too," I said.

I put up a barrier so my spiritual pressure wouldn't disturb the other me. Sloth put the Grief Seed up to her Soul Gem and flared her aura high enough to fill it in seconds. I backed away while the witch's labyrinth formed so I wouldn't appear in the center. Once it had fully formed, I entered.

I was surrounded by the mustached cotton ball familiars the moment I stepped in. I stomped my foot and impaled all but one on transmuted spikes. The last one extended a pair of enormous sheers on a thorn covered vine. The unnatural way it moved, like frames of shoddy stop motion just got more unnerving the better I got at flash step. I could perceive movements that were impossibly fast, but there was just no transition state.

I released my shikai and wrapped the chain around the sheers, holding them closed. Then I grabbed hold of the familiar. I ignored the disagreement between my senses of sight and touch about how the creature was moving as it struggled against my grip. Finally, I turned on the spot and apparated out of the labyrinth, dragging the familiar with me.

Now in the outer world, the familiar struggled harder, looking every which way. To the extent one can read the body language of a giant cotton ball on a stem with butterfly wings, I'd say it was panicking. As it struggled, a barrier formed. It wasn't a full labyrinth, but it was a pocket dimension of its own. I let go and backed off.

"Okay, that's step one," I said to the familiar. "Time for step two. Bankai!"

The familiar could no more sense my spiritual pressure than Sloth could, so it didn't react at all to my power increasing. I took out five links and dropped them on the ground. With a thought, they transformed into five Nazi guards from the concentration camp where I'd been vivisected.

"What? Where are we?" asked one of them.

"Wait, I was just shot," said another.

"What the hell is that?!" screamed a third when he spotted the familiar.

I used my zanpakto to bind all five Nazis before they had time to realize what was happening. Then I said, "Do you remember the experiments happening at the camp? Well, this time, the five of you get to be the test subjects."

They screamed until the familiar cut their heads off. I watched as the familiar's body swelled and seemed to be scribbled over with crayon. The small barrier grew into a full sized labyrinth. With the Mad Eye, I could see the Grief Seed coalesce inside the newborn witch. The experiment had been a success.

Along with the labyrinth, more familiars had been created. I waited a moment longer to make sure the process had completed, then I snapped my fingers and burned the witch to death with flame alchemy. Sloth was already waiting for me with the original Grief Seed when the labyrinth collapsed. She was smiling when she caught the new Grief Seed as it drifted down from above us.

"It worked!" exclaimed Sloth as she leapt at me and hugged me, dangling off my neck for a moment before I got my hands under her to support her. She let go and dropped down to the ground a moment later, saying, "We should make one of each type of witch tonight. We can copy those during our month long vacation and have enough to keep a full set back at base in case we need to rebuild our collection again on top of what we carry with us."

"We can also make some extras I can use in some of the more destructive experiments I have in mind," I said.

We knew the trick of every witch and familiar in our collection, and had no trouble replicating our initial success. In no time, we'd copied every Grief Seed. Sloth pocketed the new Grief Seeds and we crept back up to our bedroom to return the originals to their proper place in history.

"You're really cute when you're asleep," I said, looking down at past Sloth where she was snuggled up against my past self.

"You're not so bad looking yourself," said Sloth as she came to join me. "I really am relieved we have Grief Seeds again. I didn't like being so dependent on you and Orihime. Now I know I can recharge myself if I have to, even if I'd still prefer just letting you empty my Grief Seeds most of the time."

"It must've been stressful," I said.

"Yeah," she admitted, leaning her head against my hip. "Are you okay with us using your bankai like this?"

"I'd have said something if I wasn't," I replied, putting a hand on her head and gently stroking her hair. "The Nazis I'm feeding to the witches deserve every bit of the pain and horror they're getting. They weren't even trying to get a Philosopher's Stone. They just killed on an industrial scale for nothing."

"Let's go downstairs," said Sloth. "We'll leave the month's trials to them and take our well earned break."

I nodded. "We know Yhwach didn't try to steal my powers this month."

* * *

Author's comments:  
The attempt to fill in the gaps in quincy history was one of the parts about this story I've been enjoying the most.


	49. Chapter 57: Loose Ends and New Friends

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 57) Loose Ends and New Friends  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

A month with no crises, where we could slow down and think, was exactly what we needed. We continued to devote time daily to working on our powers. We produced a new Grief Seed a day and I spoke with one of my victims each day in an effort to come to terms with them and get closer to truly mastering my bankai.

Our living space was richly decorated. We had a sitting room and work space that was a homey blend of our respective Hogwarts common rooms, with bookcases, fireplaces, overstuffed chairs, and polished wooden tables. Several ceilings were enchanted like t he Great Hall to show an illusion of the sky outside. It made our underground confinement feel less claustrophobic.

Analyzing and reproducing the Peruvian instant darkness powder using locally available ingredients was the work of two weeks. A fresh set of automatons soon made enough for our plan. At that point, our research returned to Soul Gems and Grief Seeds. I still felt like a monkey trying to reverse engineer a cell phone, but now that I had a surplus of Grief Seeds, I could start performing destructive tests that I hadn't been able to before.

Tsumi no Rensa retained his ability to manifest for about a week. After that, he returned to my inner world awaiting the day I learned to achieve manifestation under my own power. I kept up daily practice toward that goal.

The extra month of practice got me to the point where I could use the quincy cross on my left wrist to gather spirit particles and form a bow. Forming and firing an arrow while maintaining that bow was still beyond me, however.

It was becoming obvious I'd hit a wall in terms of developing my hollow powers. Araña wasn't holding out on me. He just had no idea how to perform soinido, or bala, or how to open a garganta. These should all be within my power, but I needed a teacher to master them. I tried to use my bankai to call up one of the espada I killed, but I simply didn't have enough spirit energy to call up Yami or Grimjow. I'd beaten both of them by making sure our battle wasn't decided by raw spirit energy.

On the last day before we caught up with our timeline, after the point where Koga and Muramasa had been killed, I used my bankai to summon Koga. The man had an incredible level of spirit energy to the point that I needed to be in my resureccion state in order to call him up.

People called up by my bankai always appeared in perfect health. Thus, the Koga Kuchki I summoned bore little resemblance to the emaciated leathery skinned mummy I had glimpsed with the Mad Eye before blowing him up, seal and all, using a nuclear weapon. This Koga was strong, youthful, and well groomed. He wore a black soul reaper uniform with a necklace of large beads. His hair was long and black except for a small patch on one of his temples that had been recently cut and dyed red.

"Where am... A hollow?" Koga said.

"Not quite," I replied, my voice mixed with that of my inner hollow.

Koga lunged at me, flash stepping as he drew his sword. I ended the summoning before he reached me and caught the chain link he represented. Tossing it back to its starting position, I resummoned him.

"You can't harm me," I informed him. "After I destroyed your body, you exit only as an extension of my will."

Koga tried to mask his movements by projecting an illusion into my mind. He wasn't up to overcoming my occlumency training. Once again, I reduced him to a chain link and resummoned him.

"You're thinking about trying to attack me with kido this time," I said. "You aren't the only one who can reach into someone's mind, and I'm better at it than you."

"Who are you and what do you want?" asked Koga.

"My name is Greed," I told Koga. "While I may look like a hollow, I'm actually something called a Visored. I'm a soul reaper who's gone through a dangerous process to acquire hollow powers."

"A soul reaper?" said Koga, looking at me skeptically. "Whisper, Muramasa!"

"I'm not sensing any spiritual pressure from your blade," I said. "Muramasa didn't die with you, so he isn't here with you. He was destroyed by the hollows he was using to sustain himself a few minutes after I killed you. A pity. Muramasa's powers would be useful against an enemy I'll have to face in a few days."

"Muramasa's a useless sword anyway," said Koga, snapping his zanpakto in two and dropping the pieces to the floor.

"That's pretty cold, considering all the effort Muramasa went through to try and rescue you from your seal."

"If he'd come when I called him, I never would have been sealed in the first place," Koga growled.

"Why don't you tell me your story and after that we'll discuss what kind of relationship we're going to have from here."

Not really having any other choice, Koga gave me his account of the events leading up to his sealing. I used legelimency to make sure he was telling the truth as he understood it. He didn't try to lie. I got the sense he was grateful for the chance to tell his side of things, even if the only one listening was a spidertaur hollow.

Koga had married in to the Kuchki clan and had never been able to get the approval of his noble father in law. The Soul Society was going through a rebellion at the time and Koga's efforts toward putting it down had earned him Yamamoto's attention if not the approval of his father in law. As many of the rebels were soul reapers themselves, Muramasa proved to be the perfect tool for dealing with it.

Koga became a victim of his own success. After being assigned to head a special task force by Yamamoto, a group of nobles decided Koga was becoming a threat to their power. To that end, they sent a group of soul reapers to murder Koga, and when he killed them in self defense, they accused him of murdering them unprovoked.

He was arrested and sentenced to have his powers destroyed. After his father in law proved useless, counseling Koga to be patient and let the system do its job after Koga had already been sentenced, Muramasa broke Koga out of prison. Once out, he tracked down the nobles who'd falsely accused him. After hearing them gloat about it, Koga klled them.

From there, he had been driven out of the Seireitei and he began the rebellion Yamamoto had mentioned. He'd killed a number of citizens in the Rukon District to send the message that the Thirteen Court Guard Squads couldn't or wouldn't protect them. It was a step even Muramasa had thought was going too far.

Not long after, Yamamoto and Koga's father in law had arrived to seal him. That was when Koga had called out for Muramasa and he hadn't answered. Koga was unmoved by my explanation of what Muramasa had done to rescue him, dismissing his own zanpakto as a disobedient, replaceable tool.

"I think I understand now," I said at length. "Zanpakto reflect their wielders. Muramasa had the ability to trespass upon and violate the bond between wielder and zanpakto because his wielder had no respect for that bond to begin with."

"So, you're judging me too," said Koga.

"The thing is," I said, "you're a part of my zanpakto now. I presume you want me to think of you as more than a disposable tool. I sympathize with what happened to you. I've seen the failures of the Seireitei's sorry excuse for a justice system. But yeah, I'm judging you for taking it out on Rukon citizens instead of listening to your zanpakto when he told you that was the wrong thing to do."

"Where does that leave us?" Koga asked.

"If you're willing to fight on my behalf, I may call on you again."

"Then, I'll see you then."

* * *

Sloth and I arrived back at the hospital minutes after our past selves left. Uryu and Soken were still on the roof.

"Was there something else?" asked Soken.

"They just finished time traveling, grandfather," said Uryu.

"He's right," I said. "The instant darkness powder is ready. But we've had some time to think about this, and if we want to have the best chance of succeeding, we'll need to wait five more months."

"Why?" asked Uryu.

"When we invaded the Soul Society, I had a potion called felix felicis," I said. "Otherwise known as liquid luck. The bottle was smashed in my fight with Captain Kyoraku. I've been brewing another batch since then, but it takes six months to make."

"Wasn't running into a captain and getting your good luck potion smashed kind of... unlucky?" said Uryu dryly.

"I wasn't under its effects at the time," I said. "It has side effects that make it dangerous to use for long periods of time, so I try to use it sparingly and only when I'll have some time to recover after it wears off. I used it to get my soul reaper powers before we infiltrated the Seireitei."

"If it takes so long to brew, why don't you use your time travel abilities to speed up the process?" suggested Soken.

"Potion making isn't like conventional chemistry," said Sloth. "The order and circumstances where things happen is important. Some parts of this potion need to stew over the course of a full lunar cycle, and trying to time turn would risk the entire process failing."

"Five months should still be long before Yhwach fully recovers," I said. "Our long term divinations indicate everything should be pretty quiet otherwise around that time, meaning plenty of time to shake off the potion's side effects after the mission."

"What exactly are those side effects?" asked Uryu.

"Giddiness, impulsiveness, overconfidence," recited Sloth. "It's also addictive. Our school headmaster at Hogwarts was hooked on the stuff."

"Five months, then," said Soken. "We will all need to do everything we can to prepare."

* * *

A couple of days later, a new transfer student was added to our class at Karakura High School. She was tall with black hair done in a style that caused it to curl in over her cheeks, framing her eyes. Her name was Kyoko.

The number of transfer students who were what they appeared in this class over the last year was precisely zero. I used legelimency to gently brush her surface thoughts. There was nothing suspicious. She was nervous about coming to a new school, hoped to make friends here, and was feeling lingering guilt about a fight she'd had with a friend from her old school the last time they'd seen each other. I could sense some spirit energy from her, but it was about on the same level as Tatski and Keigo.

This didn't feel like a coincidence, but all I had was a feeling. After covertly checking my dark detectors, I gave up and decided to play things by ear. After all,none of the people who'd infiltrated the class had actually been our enemies.

After class, Sloth and I were squeezing in an alchemy lesson with Tatski and Keigo in an empty classroom before Tatski's martial arts class. We were just getting started on manipulating the chemical bonds in the substance you were working with, without any elemental transmutation. To that end, they were each starting with a glass of water with some table salt dissolved in. They were preparing arrays to separate out their starting material into a vial of hydrochloric acid and a vial of sodium hydroxide.

Orihime led Kyoko into the room just as Tatski and Keigo were activating their transmutation circles. Gold light was pouring out of the diagrams drawn on plain paper as the glasses warped and split in two. Kyoko was smiling.

"Um, is it okay that the new girl just saw that?" asked Keigo nervously.

"It's okay. I have powers too," said Kyoko.

"It turns out, Kyoko can see the future," said Orihime. "I told her about your tarot readings and promised to introduce you."

"You're a seer?" asked Sloth. "That's a really rare gift."

"I told you they knew all about this stuff," said Orihime.

"I knew finding people with powers of their own would make this easier," said Kyoko. "At my old school, I used to creep people out."

"I'm sorry that happened to you," I said.

"You won't have to worry about that here," said Tatski. "Believe me when I say we've seen weirder."

"Speaking of weirder, has Orihime told you about hollows yet?" asked Keigo.

"Hollows?" asked Kyoko.

"Cannibalistic evil spirits with white masks and holes in their chests," clarified Keigo. "They eat souls and people with powers are apparently especially tasty to them."

"I've never heard of anything like that," said Kyoko shocked.

"Karakura town is kind of a spiritual nexus," I explained. "It attracts more than its share of hollows and presumably means the surrounding areas have that many fewer of them."

"Part of what we're learning here is how to protect ourselves from hollows," said Keigo. Then he pointed toward his kido gun and said, "Tatski and I are sort of like first responders."

"Well, I think today's lesson is over," I said, clapping and transmuting both sets of vials back into salt water. "We've got a martial arts class to get to."

"Maybe I should walk you home, Kyoko," said Keigo. "You know, in case a hollow shows up."

Kyoko paused, considering for a long moment. Keigo got nervous and started to apologize, flailing his arms around in exaggerated gestures the whole time.

"No, it's not that," said Kyoko. "I just... don't think there'll be any hollows on my way home. You can still walk with me if you want."

The rest of us waved goodbye as Keigo rushed out the door with Kyoko. When they'd gone, Tatski said, "I hope she knows what she's getting into."

"She's a seer," said Sloth. "I think she knows where this is going better than any of us."

* * *

Author's comments:  
This was a bit of a bookkeeping and transitional chapter. There wasn't really enough material dedicated to any one thing to merit a full chapter and there were a lot of little things that needed to be settled.


	50. Chapter 58: Aizen's Offer

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 58) Aizen's Offer  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

With Aizen's predicted move just days away, everyone was getting in what last minute training they could. So far, none of the hollows Aizen sent to test the defenses had made it back alive. The soul reapers stationed here had defeated a couple of gilleon level menos and numerous smaller hollows so quickly, those of us training barely had time to notice the hollow's spiritual pressure emerging before it disappeared.

Rukia, Renji, Toshiro, Rangiku, Ikaku, and Yumichika had been rotated back to the world of the living. Rukia was still staying at Ichigo's house, but all the rest were at the mansion with Sloth and I. Numerous soul phones went off moments before I sensed three strong spiritual pressures appear. The blend of soul reaper and hollow characteristics identified them as arancars. The soul phones confirmed it.

"We'll hold them off until you can get your limiters released and your people into position," I said to Captain Hitsugaya as I touched my substitute badge and took a potion out of my utility belt.

"We'll be right behind you," said Hitsugaya.

I downed my potion, released the power limiting tattoo on my chest with the words, "gentai kaijo," then I took Sloth by the hand and apparated to where the arancars had appeared in the sky.

"Are you soul reapers?" asked a tall, thin arancar with a blue mustache and a mask fragment covering one eye.

"Something like that," I said.

"I am Patros," announced the arancar with the blue mustache. "My associates and I are looking for the person who knows how to use the hogyoku."

"They're rebels against Aizen," said Sloth. "They stole his hogyoku and killed the espada guarding it."

"Powerful hollows shouldn't be the servants of soul reapers," said Patros. "We should be consuming souls and crushign soul reapers like we did before Aizen took over. Now, where is the person who knows how to use the hogyoku?"

I snapped mu fingers, detonating the nitrogen based explosive I'd transmuted out of the air in the three arancars' lungs and sinuses. As with Yami, their hierro contained the explosion inside their bodies, allowing the shock waves to build up and reverberate inside their bodies, puling their bones and organs. Sloth and I caught the three corpses.

"What are you thinking, Greed?" asked Sloth as we rifled through the arancars' pockets.

"I was thinking about Momo," I said. "She was convinced Aizen had a good reason for what he was doing. Taking over Hueco Mundo and preventing the strongest hollows from attacking humans and soul reapers would fit with her theory."

"He's still in our foeglass," noted Sloth.

"Gin still isn't," I said. "One way or another something strange is going on with it."

"Their hogyoku was a fake," said Sloth, taking out a glass box containing a black orb.

"No good arancars, no second hogyoku," I said shaking my head. "This day has been a bust all around."

"Are they at least weak enough for you to summon with your bankai?" asked Sloth.

"Possibly," I said, "but it's going to take more than a few days to show them who's boss and get them to train me in my higher level hollow powers."

Hitsugaya's team flash stepped onto the scene.

"You didn't leave any of 'em for us?" complained Ikaku.

"It's not my fault they just stood still talking and let me kill them," I said.

"Is that the hogyoku?" asked Hitsugaya indicating the object Sloth was holding.

"No. It's a fake," she said. "Aizen tricked these arancars into stealing it and coming here to learn how to use it. They came here and either get killed, eliminating a rebel without getting his hands dirty or making them martyrs, or they win and leave the defenses of Karakura Town weakened enough that he can walk in and create the Oken. Win-win for him either way."

"I see," said Hitsugaya. "Still, finding out for sure that not all of the arancars are united under Aize is valuable information."

"I'm just disappointed the reason they aren't united is because they think Aizen's too soft," I said.

* * *

Sloth and I were both wearing blue militia uniforms when we visited the Soul Society. I called a meeting with the bounts in our meeting hall in Kusajishi. As many ordinary members as I could get to attend occupied stadium seating while myself, Sloth, and the bounts were seated at a table below. I cast "Sonorus!" on all six of us at the table so we could be easily heard from the stands.

"As many of you know, within the next day or so, the former soul reaper captain Soske Aizen is expected to attack Karakura Town in the world of the living," I opened. "The Thirteen Court Guard Squads have committed to defend it with all the strength they can muster. I'm not going to ask you to join them.

"There's a real possibility that the attack on Karakura Town is meant to be a distraction to lure the strongest soul reapers away from the Soul Society. If that's the case, you'll all need to be extra vigilant."

Ugaki spoke next. "The Department of Research and Development had been working with hired contractors from the Rukon District to construct an exact replica of Karakura Town. They intended to use a modified senkaimon to swap the two cities immediately before the battle in order to protect the humans there. We'll want militia members waiting outside the border in case it's attacked."

"I want to emphasize the rules of engagement for this battle," I said. "Soske Aizen has the ability to create perfectly convincing illusions. If at any point you see the blade of his zanpakto, you must drop your weapon, lay face down on the ground, and remain there whatever you may see or hear. He will use his illusions to create friendly fire situations."

"Remember to wear your goggles at all times during the fighting," reminded Sloth. "They will provide you with protection against not just the risk of seeing Soske Aizens' sword, but also Kaname Tosen's sonic attack."

"I've prepared documents with everything we know about the enemy's capabilities," said Ryo. "Everyone take enough copies for your neighboring districts. Make sure to review them."

"Remember," said Koga, "our information is incomplete, so expect surprises."

* * *

After the meeting, Koga opened a senkaimon for Sloth and I to return to the world of the living. The purple goop of restrictive current flowed sluggishly down the walls as we made our way through the dangai at a brisk walk. Repeated trips had given us a sense of this place, so barring times the cleaner showed up, we rarely felt the need to rush anymore.

As we walked, I sensed the sudden appearance of a spiritual pressure behind me. I turned in time to see Kaname Tosen stepping out of a garganta. His zanpakto was sheathed and his arms were relaxed at his sides.

"Lord Aizen wishes to speak with you," said Tosen.

"Why would Aizen want to talk to us?" asked Sloth.

"You are on the wrong side," said Tosen. "You've seen what the Soul Society's idea of justice looks like. Let Lord Aizen explain his side of things."

"I told Momo that if Aizen had a reasonable explanation, I want to hear it," I said. "Is Tosen being straight with us?"

"If he wasn't, I'd've already spin kicked him into the restrictive current," said Sloth. "Either he believes it or he's a damn good occlumens."

"Okay, then," I said pulling my goggles into position over my eyes. "Let's go talk to Aizen."

"Right," said SLoth, putting on her goggles. She added telepathically, "If we don't like what he has to say, we can kill him and steal the hogyoku."

"Follow me," said Tosen. "Within the garganta, you will need to form a path to walk on out of the ambient reshi. If you fall, you will be lost forever between worlds." He stepped in, forming a smooth path of white light under his feet.

Inside the garganta was an endless, swirling blackness. There were no reference points once the passage back to the dangai closed behind us. Only the three glowing pathways we walked on gave any kind of solid grounding. At length, we saw an opening in front of us and stepped through into a large, white tiled room with large windows looking out on a night sky hanging above a vast desert. The garganta closed behind us.

"Kaname, you've brought them," said Soske Aizen who was seated in a hard looking chair.

"As you commanded, Lord Aizen," said Tosen.

"I see telling everyone how my Kyoka Suigetsu works was the right choice after all," remarked Aizen. "At least some of you were intelligent enough to try and develop a counter. You may keep those goggles of yours on. I have no need to ensnare you with my Kyoka Suigetsu. As Kaname said, this is a chance for us to talk."

"I promised Momo I'd hear you out if I got the chance," I said. "Where should we start?"

"His mind is completely closed," thought Sloth. "It's the same level of occlumency Byakuya was using. We're limited to mundane means of catching him in a lie."

"I took an interest in you after you kept me from acquiring Kiske Urahara's hogyoku," began Aizen. "Fortunately, the information I was able to retrieve from the daireisho archives has allowed me to fully mature the hogyoku I already had in my possession.

"Since that day, you have gained and lost a captain's seat, been banished from the Seireitei, built your own army, and fashioned an unassailable fortress in the world of the living. In the process, you managed to tame Mayuri Kurotsuchi, something Kiske Urahara was never able to do. All the while, you showed Central 46 exactly how little respect they were due."

"I didn't kill them like you did," I said neutrally.

"To accomplish my goal, I didn't need to kill them, obviously," said Aizen amiably. "With the power of my Kyoka Suigetssu, I could have walked past them into the archives and none of them would have been the wiser. So far, you've learned of only a handful of their crimes. Condemning Kusaka, ignoring Kaname's pleas for justice, Project Spearhead. Those are just the insignificant tip of the iceberg. Those men and women earned their execution a thousand times over, but as the highest authority in the Seireitei, there was only one being with the legal right to judge them."

"This is where we get into your plan to kill the Soul King," said Sloth.

"As you've seen, slaughtering Central 46 was, at best, a temporary measure," said Aizen. "A new chamber was soon seated with representatives chosen from the same corrupt noble clans as the old chamber and they went right on as before. All the while, the Soul King, who's authority they operate under, hides in the Royal Realm. I presume you know how the Okenis made by now. Have you given any thought to the kind of creature that locks his front door with a key like that?"

"You think killing him is worth sacrificing the souls of everyone in Karakura Town?" I said, keeping any hint of accusation out of my voice.

"I do," said Aizen, "but if I can convince you to work with me, that might not be necessary. You both have the ability to reach into someone's mind and take what information you like. Genryusai Yamamoto knows t he location of the Oken that already exists. If that proves impossible to retrieve, you r abilities, Sloth, would allow us to forge the Oken then immediately revive all those sacrificed to make it."

"Let's assume I'm with you so far," I said. "My understanding is that the Soul King acts as a linchpin for the world and that destroying him would cause the destruction of all the various sub dimensions of this world."

"You haven't been misinformed," said Aizen. "If killing him had been my only goal, I could have acted long ago. He needs to be killed and replaced. That was the goal of my research into the hogyoku.

"Kiske Urahara thought of the hogyoku as a means of manipulating the barrier between soul reapers and hollows. It does have that ability, but that is only a shadow of its true power. The hogyoku's true power is to materialize the deepest desires of those around it.

"Kiske Urahara desired to manipulate the barrier between soul reapers and hollows, so it has that power. While it was hidden inside Rukia Kuchki, it responded to Orihime Inue and Ysutora Sado, who cursed their weakness from the bottom of their hearts, and awakened their spiritual powers. You and your friends assaulted the Seireitei and faced several captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads without a single one of you dying, all while Rukia Kuchkin was sitting alone in her cell, with the hogyoku inside her, praying for your safety."

"The hogyoku's emissions are similar to those from a Soul Gem," Sloth thought to me. "This might be the mechanism Kyubey uses to grant wishes."

"There are limitations to the hogyoku's ability to manifest one's heart's desire," said Aizen. "The hogyoku cannot materialize a desire that wasn't within the user's power to attain on their own. What that means is not so much that any given desire the hogyoku grants is something that could be accomplished without it. Rather, people with greater means can materialize stronger desires."

"The term for that measurement is called karmic potential," I said.

Aizen smiled. "I've trained to master my spirit energy like few ever have. I've conquered Hueco Mundo and have vasto lordes sworn to serve me. Once the Soul King has been slain, I will have more than enough karmic potential to usurp his role."

"That could work," I admitted.

"Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?" asked Aizen patiently.

"Yeah, Momo," I said, this time letting a hint of accusation into my voice. "You stabbed her and left her for dead."

"How would you have protected her?" asked Aizen rhetorically. "She wouldn't have survived coming to Hueco Mundo with me, and the Soul Society wold have assumed my fiercely loyal lieutenant was involved after I left."

"You almost cut Ichigo in half and he was fine the next morning," said Sloth. "What you did to Momo had her crippled for weeks and I had to heal her the rest of the way."

"Momo wouldn't have survived Ichigo Kurosaki's injuries," said Aizen. "Do you honestly believe that if I had wanted her dead, she would have survived, injured or no?"

"If you'd wanted, you could have killed her with spiritual pressure alone," I said. "Okay, last question. About the arancars you sent to Karakura Town."

"The only arancar I sent to Karakura Town was Ulquiora, and I'd like him back," said Aizen.

"Ulquiora was sent to scout the defenses," said Tosen. "Yami followed on his own. No one had orders to indiscriminately attack ordinary humans. Frankly, I'm glad Yami's gone. As for Grimjow, he went off explicitly against orders. Patros was engaging in an open act of rebellion by traveling to the world of the living."

"The others I would have had to deal with if you hadn't," said Aizen. "Ulquiora followed orders. I would prefer to have him back among the espada. Do this for me, and I will consider us allies. You will be granted the run of my palace of Las Noches. I think you would enjoy speaking with Zaielaparo Granz, who I hope will soon be my eight espada again. He has made a number of fascinating scientific discoveries."

"A moment to consult," I requested.

"Of course," said Aizen. "Take your time."

"I killed Ulquiora before," said Sloth telepathically. "I can kill him again if it comes to that."

"He knows what he's doing dangling knowledge in front of us," I thought back. "Still, the hogyoku insights alone might be worth it."

"Do we trust him about the Soul King?" asked Sloth. "Or about the rest of his answers?"

"Kyoka Suigetsu has the power it does because deception is a core part of Aizen's personality," I replied. "He lied about things that didn't matter on his way out of the Soul Society. Things that were easy to check. We shouldn't believe anything we can't independently verify. Even if he is right about the Soul King, it doesn't necessarily follow that putting him on the throne of heaven is the right call."

"If we do decide the answer's no, we'll have to fight him now," Sloth pointed out. "In a spiritual realm without our alchemy, that gives him more advantages than we were planning on. I still think we can take him, but it'll be a harder fight."

"We knew it might come to that when we agreed to meet Aizen and hear him out," I thought back. "I think our best option is going along with him for now. If there's anything at all to what he's saying, we need to know more."

"Okay," said Sloth aloud. "I'll bring back Ulquiora."

Sloth took out a Grief Seed and held it ot the crimson, egg shaped Soul Gem in her hand. Darkness gathered within the Soul Gem as crimson light filled the room. By the time the green eyed, black haired, pale, frail looking arancar was standing there, the darkness had been drawn off into the Grief Seed. Sloth returned her Soul Gem to its ring form and pocketed the Grief Seed.

"Lord Aizen-" began Ulquiora before Aizen cut him off."

"Ulquiora, we have a great deal to discuss. Kaname, please show our new allies around."

* * *

Las Noches was a massive, domed city. Hueco Mundo was a world of perpetual night. The dome of Las Noches was painted like the blue sky of the world of the living and suffused with artificial sunlight. Large, rectangular buildings were laid out haphazardly with white-grey sand between them. The largest of these buildings were the palaces of the ten espada.

Tosen began his tour by showing Sloth and I to a room on the outer wall. It had a large window looking out over the vast desert of eternal night that was Hueco Mundo proper.

"Lord Aizen has made this room available for your use," said Tosen. "I'm given to understand that having a bright blue sky outside your bedroom window at all hours makes it difficult to sleep. You'll find a change of clothes in the closet. The militia uniforms you're wearing may be relatively new, but much of the preparation we've given the arancars has been based on the idea that the militia will fight alongside the soul reapers."

Sloth and I closed the door and looked through the clothes provided. They were variants on the white uniforms worn by the arancars. A quick telepathic consultation confirmed that neither of us was comfortable changing here. Instead, I transfigured our clothes to match the ones in the closet. While we were alone, I removed the spirit energy limiting tattoo I kept on my chest most of the time for training purposes. I also deactivated the power limiting functions of my substitute soul reaper badge though I left its surveillance functions on.

When we left, Kaname said, "It was probably a wise decision to release your limiters. As much as we've tried to civilize them, most of the arancars are still hollows deep down. They obey Lord Aizen because they can't challenge his strength, not because they believe in his cause."

"Should we assume if someone starts something, we can finish it?" asked Sloth.

"If anyone in Las Noches is foolish enough to attack you after having killed three espada, they've clearly chosen to take their lives into their own hands," said Tosen with a shrug. "I want to thank you for what you did. As an enemy of the Soul Society, I may never see her again, but you should know how grateful I am that you not only gave her a second chance at life, but made sure everyone knew what happened to her."

"I don't think she's very happy that you've allied with the menos," I said.

"I knew she wouldn't be," said Tosen sadly. "The sad truth is, she's a soul reaper, fully assimilated into a culture centered around violence and death. If it's a choice between being her friend again and pursuing lasting peace and justice, I won't abandon the path I set myself on long ago."

"Do you really believe the violence and corruption will end once and for all when Aizen's the Soul King?" I asked.

"Overthrowing the Soul King will be the beginning of the work, not its end," said Tosen. "Come. Lord Aizen asked me to show you Las Noches. I will introduce you to the espada."

* * *

Author's comments:  
The Soul Society has serious issues. Whether Aizen's genuinely interested in solving them or just a power hungry tyrant exploiting that fact as justification, Tosen is a true believer.


	51. Chapter 59: The Tour of Las Noches

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 59) The Tour of Las Noches  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Each building that served as an espada's palace had been customized to suit the needs and style of its occupant. The hollows directly under a given espada, their fraccion, typically dwelled in the palace with them. We decided to visit the palaces in order, starting from ten.

The tenth espada, Rudborn Chulete, was unusual for an arancar in that his mask, which resembled a bull's skull, had no visible damage to it. His unique abilities allowed him to produce an unlimited number of humanoid minions who possessed both human intelligence, and perfect loyalty to their creator. These minions and their leader served as the primary law enforcement in Las Noches.

Espada number nine was the one I already knew the most about. Kaien Shiba had been a part of this being and had provided the soul Society with detailed reports about Aaraniero's abilities. He was the only espada that had formerly been a gilleon, and as a result didn't have a single dominant consciousness. Two spherical masked heads shared a jar of pink fluid where a human's head would be and had to work together to control their body. Where ordinary hollows could consume souls to increase their spirit energy, Aaraniero also gained any special abilities of those he consumed. His powers didn't work in sunlight so his palace had no windows. Kaien's zanpakto, which he still had the ability to use, was strapped to his side.

Zaielaparo Granz, espada number eight, lived in a palace filled with traps, surveillance systems, rooms that could be rearranged, and all manner of advanced technology. I touched one of the computer terminals and used the red stones in my pocket to assimilate his research. It was only my past experience with Mayuri Kurotsuchi's research that enabled me to keep a straight face and a neutral expression when the pink haired arancar who's mask fragment took the form of glasses frames greeted us.

"Anything good in his database?" asked Sloth telepathically while Granz was introducing us to the members of his fraccion.

"He's a monster," I reported. "Not on Mayuri's level, but very few are. These fraccion he's introducing us to, he modified them to serve as emergency healing pills."

"He keeps them around so he can eat them in an emergency?" confirmed Sloth. Then, "Kaname knows. For someone so judgemental about the Soul Society's necessary evils, he's sure willing to turn a blind eye to what Granz does because of how useful he is."

"There are some useful technologies in there," I thought. "One in particular they're completely ignoring the potential of. They have a device that lets its wearer pass through solid objects at will."

"You're kidding," Sloth deadpanned. "What could they possibly be using it for if they're ignoring its combat potential?"

"They think of it as a stealth device," I replied. "They have it integrated into a bracelet that also includes a function that makes its wearer invisible to anyone but an arancar. They use it to get in and out of places undetected, the intangibility being used to deal with locked doors."

"Idiots," thought Sloth. "None of the arancars killed so far would have been if they'd used that power half as effectively as I did before our fights started forcing me to actually get good at using it."

"Getting our hands on the technology was worth giving them back Ulquiora," I thought. "Still, nothing I've seen so far makes me want to share our insights on this with Granz, Tosen, or Aizen."

"Agreed," thought Sloth. "Honestly, I'm thinking we might want to dust off one of Mayuri's tricks. Plant a bomb in each of the espada in case we decide they're going to be our enemies after all."

"We'll make the preparations once we have some privacy," I thought back. "I still have the specifications for Mayuri's undetectable, implantable flesh bombs."

* * *

While our souls were taking the tour of Las Noches, all our homunculus selves knew was that they hadn't come back from the Soul Society on schedule. That Koga confirmed we'd entered the dangai, our initial assumption was that there'd been a run in with the cleaner. Sloth and I headed into the mansion's entry hall where Hitsugaya was meditating.

"Captain Hitsugaya," I said as we approached, "can we ask you a favor?"

"What is it you need from me?" he asked, annoyed at the interruption.

"I think I might be dead," I said. "Can you contact the Soul Society and have them check the signal from my badge?"

"You're serious," said Hitsugaya with concern. He took out his soul phone. It beeped as he flipped it open and his eyes quickly scanned across the message he'd recieved. "Checking on you will have to wait. Arancars are confirmed in route to Karakura Town."

Sloth and I each popped a Mad Eye in our right eye sockets as we followed Hitsugaya and his team to the location the Soul Society had predicted the incursion. Ichigo and Rukia arrived moments later. The garganta opened, revealing three arancars I didn't recognize accompanied by the espada Noitora. Noitora was tall, thin, dressed in a ridiculously oversized, spoon shaped collar, and wielded a bizarre scythe-like weapon. Kaien's intelligence indicated Noitora had the strongest hiero of the espada, making him disproportionately more difficult to injure conventionally than his already impressive level of spirit energy would indicate. Without our souls, Sloth and I couldn't perform the alchemy I'd been using to turn that strength into a weakness.

My lip reading was still lousy, so I missed the all important introductions and posturing. When violence broke out, one of the arancars, a slack jawed boy with a large claymore style sword strapped to his back, stayed back from the fighting, seemingly looking at butterflies. Noitora rushed Ichigo while the rest of the soul reapers focused on an effeminine, black haired young man who entered resureccion immediately and sprouted eight large, white tentacles from his back.

The last arancar had a sword with an odd ring in the center of its blade. He wore an eye patch. I suspected I knew how he'd injured that eye when he fired a cero from his remaining eye at Sloth and I. We'd both taken a combat potion before the arancars arrived and were able to dodge the blast.

Sloth and I rushed him, hoping to catch him while he was temporarily blinded by his own cero. My assumption that he'd damaged his other eye practicing ceros proved to be incorrect. His eye patch was actually a very dark lens that ensured he could still see just fine after firing a cero. He raised his sword to put the peculiar ring in the way of my fist and stopped my punch dead in its tracks. Sloth, who'd aimed somewhere less lethal than I had, landed her punch, leaving a large, bloody hole through the arancar's right thigh.

Ignoring both Sloth and the blow she'd just dealt him, the arancar swung his sword and cut right through by Ultimate Shield, severing my right arm. It was a mistake not going for something more incapacitating. Without missing a step, I kicked his left knee hard enough to separate his shin from his thigh. Combined with the destroyed femur from Sloth's punch, the arancar couldn't stay standing.

Sloth was ready with a followup punch that would crush the arancar's skull, but she didn't get the chance to land it. The slack jawed arancar who'd been staying out of the fight suddenly grabbed Sloth from behind and tossed her into the air. He followed up by punching me in the face hard enough to send me flying backward, splintering a tree as I shot through it. He didn't stay, launching himself at Hitsugaya who'd used his bankai to freeze the tentacled arancar.

At the same time, the legless arancar took advantage of the opening to activate his resureccion. After releasing his sword, he'd transformed into a twelve foot tall, pig faced behemoth. All of his injuries vanished when he went into resureccion.

I sprinted in, grabbing my severed arm off the ground as I went, and jammed it up against my stump. I continued sprinting as a flash of blue alchemic light reattached my arm. Sidestepping a punch, I ran up the arancar's arm, wrapped my arms around his bicep, and twisted with enough force to rip his arm clean off. In the same motion, I kicked him in his nose and ended up with my right leg embedded in bloody, mangled flesh up to my knee.

There was a not of nose to the boar arancar, meaning my kick wasn't lethal. He managed to land a solid punch with his remaining hand that sent be skipping across the ground like a ragdoll. While I skidded uncontrollably in a straight line, I couldn't dodge the cero he fired right after me. I curled into a ball an angled myself so as much of my diamond hard, armored body was between the cero and my head.

By the time the dust settled, most of my body had been disintegrated. All that was left was the top of my head above my jaw. The move had preserved the Mad Eye. My skull levitated as blue sparks of alchemic light reconstructed my skeleton from nothing, added muscles and organs, then finally layered on the dark grey skin of my Ultimate Shield.

"Do you get it, arancar?" I called out as I began a fresh charge. "I am immortal!"

Noitora backhanded Ichigo away and soinidoed to the arancar I was rushing at. The fifth espada picked up the boar arancar's severed arm and opened a garganta. Licking their wounds, the arancars retreated back to Hueco Mundo. Ichigo caught Sloth out of the air and returned her to the ground.

* * *

In Hueco Mundo, Tosen led us to the palace of the seventh espada, Zomari.

"After Lord Aizen finished maturing his hogyoku, I asked him to grant me a hollowfication," said Tosen. "You and I are the only ones to have ever undergone the process voluntarily."

"Aizen didn't go through it because he's planning to use the hogyoku on himself differently," I said, considering. "Why didn't Gin do it?"

"Why does Gin do or not do anything?" said Tosen with the tone of someone long since resigned to a long term annoyance.

"He's never been able to read Gin," thought Sloth. "Whether he's secretly a traitor to Aizen or he's just weirdly impossible to read, it's certainly related to him not showing up in our foeglass."

"I just wish I had some way of knowing which it is," I thought back.

"After I came to an accord with my inner hollow, Zomari was the one who instructed me in the use of my hollow powers," explained Tosen. "I'm sure he can help you master your powers as well."

Zomari was bald, with dark skin, yellow irises, and a row of white mask fragments along the top of his head. He'd been seated on an elevated pillar meditating when Tosen opened the door and showed us in.

"Kaname, who have you brought with you?" asked Zomari as he got to his feet.

"This is Greed, the one I told you about," said Tosen. "This is his wife, Sloth."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," said Zomari.

"And you," I said. "Kaname tells me you helped him learn to use his hollow powers and that you might be able to do the same for me."

Zomari nodded. "Hollows are born with a degree of knowledge about their powers. No hollow needs to be taught to perform a cero. They either can or they cannot. Arancar abilities are much the same. Cero, soinido, bala, all can be improved with training, but the basics are instinctual for all arancars."

"I've worked out how to do a cero," I said. "I haven't had any luck with soinido, bala, or opening a garganta."

"The rest will take time, but I believe I can teach you to use a bala right now," said Zomari. "First, fire a cero in that direction."

I put on my mask and did as he instructed, firing a crimson cero from my right hand. The cero obliterated the wall in that direction and opened a new window into the artificial sunlight of Las Noches. Zomari didn't seem concerned.

"When a cero charges, it needs to grow to a certain point before it can fire," explained Zomari. "Before that point, it isn't stable enough to release, so it will either explode before launch or it will simply continue charging until it crosses that threshold. The key to a bala is producing a ring of spirit energy around a charging cero that compresses and stabilizes it, allowing it to be fired almost instantly at a much lower level of power. Watch my hand for the ring."

Zomari demonstrated a bala, and I could see a crackling ring of spirit energy exerting an inward, compressing pressure. It took me about ten minutes of work, but I soon mastered the technique, firing a rapid stream of balas like machine gun fire from my fingertip to the sand covered ground below.

"You take instruction well," said Zomari when I'd gotten used to the technique.

"Thank you," I said. "Let me fix your wall. Repairo!"

"I didn't think soul reapers could use kido for anything but killing innocent hollows," said Zomari as he observed his restored wall.

"Innocent hollows?" I asked. "Every hollow I encountered in the world of the living was trying to eat someone's soul."

"It's true hollows eat human souls," said Zomari, "but who gave the soul reapers the right to protect those souls? No one."

"I don't know what to say to that," I said, blinking.

"Hollows do what they do because of their nature, their instinct," said Tosen. "Soul reapers choose to kill, so they carry the moral responsibility of that choice."

"If you're saying we shouldn't blame the people who've been overwhelmed by their instincts, I can agree with that," I said. "People are only responsible for actions taken of their own free will."

"Don't expect them to acknowledge the fact that you can either be a full person that it's murder to kill or you can be a rabid dog that can't be blamed for its actions," thought Sloth. "When I was my father's puppet I wasn't this hypocritical. I may have been a ruthless killer, but I wasn't making up reasons what I was doing was okay."

"Probably best we continue our tour," I thought back. "See if any of the espada are worth sparing."

"For the record," interjected Araña well below the level of my telepathic communication with Sloth, "I think Zomari's being a pompous hypocrite too. It would be poetic if you ate him and asked who gave him the right to defend himself."

"The only reason we're not doing that right now is that we know ever soul a hollow eats stays alive and conscious inside and can vie for control of the body," I thought to Araña. "I don't particularly appreciate the level of competition I'm already dealing with, and if you were smart, you wouldn't want more competitors either."

"I guess I can't argue with that," mused Araña. "Becoming a gilleon would definitely make us weaker instead of stronger."

"Thank you for the lesson," I said aloud. "We should get going."

"I've received word that Lupi's back from his mission," said Tosen. "If you'll follow me."

* * *

Those of us who'd confronted this latest arancar incursion had gathered in front of the big screen communication device the Thirteen Court Guard Squads had installed in the mansion to simplify coordination between the organization as a whole and the team assigned to Karakura Town. Captain Commander Yamamoto appeared on the screen. Captain Hitsugaya reported on our fight with the arancars and my and Sloth's missing souls.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news," said Yamamoto. "The Soul Society did detect a signal from Greed's substitute soul reaper badge. The missing souls in question are both alive and well for the moment. However, the reason they have both failed to return to the world of the living is because they voluntarily accompanied Kaname Tosen to Hueco Mundo where they joined Soske Aizen's army. Both are guilty of treason."

"Like hell they did," declared Ichigo.

"I certainly wasn't planning anything like that this morning when both mes were one being," I said. "Can you show us the recording?"

The screen showed the dangai as Sloth and I were approached by Tosen. Captain Hitsugaya looked extremely uncomfortable when thee other me mentioned having promised Momo I'd hear Aizen out. He looked outright furious when Aizen claimed he'd been protecting Momo by crippling her. The temperature dropped noticeably as a result of Hitsugaya's temper flaring at Aizen's words. The recording stopped after Ulquiora was resurrected and our other selves were shown out of the room by Tosen. The live feed to Yamamoto was back up.

"You idiot!" yelled Renji, punching me in the face. My jaw was shattered and my neck was broken. I tried not to hold misjudging my durability against him as I regenerated the damage.

"How could you fall for something like that?" demanded Rukia. "How many lies have you already caught him in? At this point, how can you believe a word he says?"

I helpt my eyes on the screen and said, "Tell me about the Soul King. Why does he lock his door with a key made from thousands of human souls? What is he?"

"You are in no position to make demands," said Yamamoto. "Your arrogance has already cost the people you claim to care about dearly."

"What do you mean?" asked Sloth.

"You cannot believe that reviving an espada would have no consequences," said Yamamoto. "I have received reports that while Karakura Town's defenses were distracted by this latest incursion, Ulquiora entered the world of the living and abducted Orihime Inue to Hueco Mundo."

"Orihime?" said Ichigo shocked.

Renji stepped forward, declaring, "Sir, I understand what you're saying, Head Captain Yamamoto. Therefor, as a member of the advanced troops, and because I am the lieutenant of squad six, I will head over to Hueco Mundo to bring these two back to their senses and rescue Orihime Inue."

"You must not!" snapped the elderly soul reaper with the force of an order. "With this new information, we now know that the arancars are ready for battle. All members of Captain Hitsugaya's advanced troops are to return immediately and defend the Soul Society."

Rukia spoke up. "Are you saying that Orihime is to be abandoned by us, Head Captain?"

"Exactly," replied the head of the Soul Society's military forces. "We cannot risk the safety of the entire world just to go chasing after one simple human."

"Unfortunately, Head Captain, with all due respect, I can't follow that order," said Rukia.

"Unfortunate indeed," said Yamamoto. "I thought that this might happen so I'm glad that I have prepared for it."

At that moment, a senkaimon opened, revealing Byakuya Kuchki and Kenpachi Zaraki. Zaraki said, "All right now, I want you all to head on back."

"Don't fight us," said Byakuya. "We have been ordered to take you back by force if necessary."

"All right, then," said Ichigo after a long pause. "In that case, I'm not gonna ask the Soul society to help me get Orihime back, however, the least you can do is tell me how I can get to Hueco Mundo. After all, she's still my friend, so I'll just go save her myself."

"You must not," said Yamamoto. "We are going to need your help in this battle, Ichigo Kurosaki. I won't allow you to plot your own course of action and die for nothing. Stand by until you receive orders. That is all for now."

The communication cut off and the soul reapers left. Now alone with Ichigo, who's best friend had just been abducted, I felt an intense urge to punch my other self in the face at least twice as hard as Renji'd punched me.

* * *

Hollow powers were at least as diverse as soul reaper powers. Tosen led Sloth and I to a medical ward where arancars possessing healing abilities were able to restore troops that had returned from missions with injuries. Leaning against the wall outside the ward was espada number five, Noitora Gilga. His hug, scythe-like weapon was in his hand and slug over his shoulder.

"I don't believe I've seen you here since Neliel's disappearance," noted Tosen. "Was Ichigo Kurosaki actually strong enough to injure you?"

"Hardly," spat Noitora. "I have no idea why Lord Aizen's so interested in him. He couldn't put a scratch on me through my hiero."

"So why are you here?" asked Tosen.

"Because the fancy gigais our two new 'allies' left behind messed up my fraccion," said Noitora eyeing Sloth and I. "Tesla's arm got tore off in his resureccion form. The healers aren't sure if they're gonna be able to reattach it."

"What were you doing in the world of the living?" I asked.

"Don't ask me," said Noitora. "Ulquiora was in charge of it. We were just the distraction."

"Did you lose any other arancars?" asked Tosen.

"Everyone made it back," confirmed Noitora. "The only ones who got hurt were Tesla and Lupi. Is that guy really the best we could do for number six?"

"How about on the other side?" asked Sloth. "Did any of the defenders get hurt?"

Noitora's crescent shaped scythe was up against Sloth's throat faster than I could see. From the look on Sloth's face, she was equally taken by surprise.

"I don't think you're on our side at all," said Noitora.

A flash of crimson light flared in sloth's hand as her Soul Gem transformed from ring to egg form in preparation for a full transformation into her magical girl form. Noitora didn't let it get that far, decapitating Sloth with a small movement of his blade. Her gold wrapped, crimson Soul Gem dropped to the ground. Untransformed, Sloth wasn't able to repair the damage to her body.

I drew Tsumi no Rensa and pointed it at Noitora. He gently placed his foot over Sloth's Soul Gem without putting any weight on it.

"Lord Aizen explained the basics," said Noitora. "This little trinket is her soul. So, from now on, you're going to do what we say without question or the girl dies. Do we understand each other?"

"Tosen, what we talked about before, about if the arancars start something," I said, not taking my eyes off the fragile crystal Noitora was threatening.

"I don't think you understand," said Noitora. "He's not the one calling the shots."

"It is as I said before," said Tosen.

"Smug bastard," said Noitora. "Greed I figure you've been making plans to kill all of us since day one, and from the way your gigai fights, they're pretty good ones. So, for your first order as my slave, kill Tosen. Unless you want the girl to die."

I didn't have a lot of options. Ichigo was a lot stronger than I was in terms of raw spirit energy, and if his zanpakto couldn't cut Noitora's heiro, mine wouldn't either. A stunning hex would likewise just bounce off the espada. My bankai would take too long to disable him. I'd already established that the killing curse didn't work on spiritual beings, but there was a curse on the same level that should work despite his hiero.

"Crucio!" I said in an icy tone.

Noitora collapsed to the ground screaming. I picked up Sloth's Soul Gem. Catching his breath, Noitora reached for his weapon.

"Crucio!" I repeated and he went back to writhing in agony. "I don't care if you're a soul reaper, an espada, or Lord Aizen himself. You do not get to hurt me or those I care about. Crucio! Remember this pain, Noitora. If you ever try to pull anything like that again, this pain is all that'll be waiting for you. If you have the misfortune of successfully doing lasting harm to those I care about, the pain won't stop until your mind is irreparably broken."

I put Sloth's Soul Gem in one of my belt pouches, sheathed my sword and drew my wand. Conjuring some cloth, I wrapped Sloth's reigai and slung the bundle onto my back.

"I'll need to borrow some equipment to fix Sloth's reigai," I told Tosen.

"Zaielaparo will have everything that you need," said Tosen.

"I'll head back there on my own," I said, "after I talk to Ulquira."

"I'll lead you to him," said Tosen, stepping over Noitora as he lay curled in the fetal position.

Once we were outside the building on a catwalk connecting the palaces, Tosen said, "I didn't know you had a kido like that."

"It's one of three pieces of powerful dark magic collectively referred to as the unforgivable curses," I said. "I don't like using them. They're powered by negative emotions like hate and rage. I don't want to be the kind of person who can cast them casually."

"I see," said Tosen.

I suddenly sensed a strong spiritual presence running up behind us. I gripped Tsumi no Rensa's hilt and spun around, ready to draw and slash in a single motion. A blond, male arancar with a slack jawed expression and a large claymore style sword strapped to his back was running at us.

"Wonderweis," said Tosen in recognition. "You needn't worry. He won't harm you. He just likes being near me. Pure beings seek one another out."

Wonderweis made a series of incomprehensible noises that sounded like moans or the babble of an infant just getting used to using its voice. He looked to be a teenager.

Tosen explained, "Wonderweis is a result of Lord Aizen's experiments with the hogyoku. He would be better suited to explaining the details. Suffice it to say that Wonderweis has given up his powers of speech, his intelligence, and more in exchange for the power that will help us achieve our ultimate goal."

"A forsaken child and a fallen city," I mused. "Is there a line Aizen won't cross in order to achieve his goal?"

"No," said Tosen matter of factly. "It is that dedication that means Lord Aizen will succeed where others have failed."

We entered the espada palace used by Ulquira. Once inside, I sensed a familiar presence. I stopped letting Tosen lead me around. Turning on the spot, I apparated into a cell with barred windows, a locked door, and nice furnishings. Orihime turned to face me. She was dressed as I was, in an arancar uniform.

"Greed?" said Orhime surprised. "What are you doing here? Oh, wait. I get it. You're a shape shifting arancar or one of Aizen's illusions, right?"

Locking eyes with Orihime, I made a connection using legelimency. Through the psychic link, we were able to verify one another's identities. In her mind, I saw her ambushed by Ulquiora trying to get to the fight Noitora had called a distraction. In return, I communicated to her my reasons for coming to Hueco Mundo and what I'd learned since coming here.

"Sloth's reigai's been damaged," I told Orihime as I unslung the bundle. They were the first words spoken aloud since I used my legelimency.

"Right. I can fix it," said Orihme, touching her hairpins and surrounding Sloth's reigai in her orange healing shield.

"I'm surprised they didn't take your hairpins away," I noted.

"If we did that, Lord Aizen wouldn't be able to make use of her powers," said Ulquiora, who'd entered the room undetected while Orihime and I were talking. Orihime and I both resisted the urge to jump at the surprise.

"What does Aizen want with my powers?" asked Orihime.

"If Lord Aizen hasn't chosen to reveal that to you yet, it isn't time for you to know," said Ulquiora.

Her reigai repaired, I put Sloth's Soul Gem on it. She took a deep breath, grabbed the crystal tightly in her hand, and transformed. Now dressed in her black bodysuit wiht red cloak decorated with a flamel, she affixed the protective cover over the bright red gem in the center of her circlet. Recognizing the alien magic that had both killed him and brought him back from the dead, Ulquira visibly flinched.

When the fourth espada and I had fought before, he had been able ot shield his thoughts from my legelimency. As a trained occlumens myself, I knew that the technique relied on maintaining control of one's emotions. Dying and coming back would throw most people off balance. I was able to slide through his weakened mental barriers like a scalpel.

Soske Aizen loomed large in Ulquiora's mind. Before he had met the renegade soul reaper, Ulquiora had lacked purpose or motivation. Serving Aizen had become htat purpose, even if it meant dying ot carry out Aizen's will. Ulquira didn't understand Aizen's orders. He didn't have to. All he had to do was obey.

Aizen's orders to Ulquiora had primarily concerned Ichigo. The espada was to assess him, fight with him, serve as an obstacle in order to motivate his growth. For whatever reason, Aizen wanted Ulquiora to make Ichigo stronger by beating him to near death, leaving him in a state where he was just barely alive, letting him recover, and doing it all over again, all the while making it clear to Ichgo how much farther he had to go.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Ulquiora.

"Finding out what we unleashed when we brought you back to life," I said.

"And what have you learned?" asked the arancar.

"That you're empty inside," I said. "That Sloth might as well have been regrowing Aizen's right arm instead of restoring an actual person."

"Empty, you say," said Ulquiora. He unzipped his shirt revealing the hollow hole in his chest. "Is this what you are referring to?"

"Maybe," I said. "Every hollow is different. Losing your heart means something unique to each individual. It's possible what I saw in you is because of that."

"My brother became a hollow," said Orihime. "Ichigo saved him. When a hollow dies from a soul reaper's zanpakto, they're reunited with their heart and they move on to the Soul Society."

"When I liked you, I didn't use a zanpakto," said Sloth.

"Ridiculous," said Ulquiora. "Lord Aizen has decreed that Orihime is to remain here until she is called for. The two of you may come and go as you please, but Orihime Inue is a prisoner of Las Noches, not an ally. Remember that."

Even though Ulquiora left the room, the three of us switched to telepathy as a precaution against being overheard.

"I've seen enough," I thought to the others. "Abducting Orihime is not acceptable. I say we drop some fiendfyre and leave through the Gate."

"I should kill Ulquiora first," thought Sloth. "We don't want there to be any chance Aizen comes out of this ahead."

"We can't leave yet," thought Orihime. "Before you knew I was here, you had a plan to neutralize the espadas and steal the hogyoku. You shouldn't abandon that just because I'm here. This is a chance to end the war and protect everybody. I couldn't live with myself if I was the reason we didn't take it."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes," affirmed Orihime.

"We aren't leaving you alone," thought Sloth.

Orihime shook her head. "There are three of us here. Someone's going to have to be alone no matter how we do this. It might as well be me. I'm probably the safest one of us. I'll be in a cell while you're out planting bombs with all the risks that involves."

I drew my wand and conjured a pair of mirrors. After laying some spells on them, I handed one to Orihime.

"This is a communication mirror," I thought to her. "If you suspect you're in danger, say my name and I'll be there."

"Right," thought Orihime, accepting the mirror.

* * *

Down in the lab, Sloth and I were arming ourselves. We'd each attached a spare soul to ourselves from our collection of soul coins we'd taken from the Death Eaters. There was no spiritual power to be had from those blank souls and no time to develop it. Still, they'd enable us both to use our alchemy.

"I might have gone to hear Aizen out, and I might have decided to help him bypass Karakura Town in his plan to kill the Soul King, but there's nothing he could say or do to make me go along with abducting Orihime," I said as I buckled a quincy bangle to my left wrist.

"The only think I can think is that we didn't know about it," said Sloth opening up a closet containing a number of thin, light weight, silver chain mail vests in various sizes. "That tour Tosen took us on was probably meant to keep us distracted."

Over my chain mail vest, I put on a new uniform I'd been working on for the final battle with Aizen. It was made from the same spiritual litmus paper cloth that soul reaper uniforms were made from that turned black as a result of the wearer's spirit energy. On me, it was white. The gold trim and buttons from the amestrian military uniform I'd adapted for the militia had been redone in silver to contrast with the overal black color it was supposed to have. There was no utility belt, instead every pocket had been charmed to increase its capacity and had additional spells keyed to assist in the quick retrieval of their contents with a parseltongue voice command. The entire uniform was covered with shield spells and other defensive magic.

Sloth had been expecting to be in her magical girl form for the final fight with Aizen, so her defensive enchantments had been woven into a red, ankle length, hooded cloak identical to the one that manifested when she transformed. For equipment storage, she stuck with the utility belt.

"The attack on Yhwach needs to stay on schedule," I said as I transmuted us a pair of wands, each engraved with an elaborate transmutation circle. "If we're both going on the rescue mission, I think we need to make an automaton that can keep brewing the felix felicis while we're gone."

"We should plan for the possibility that we won't make it back," said Sloth. "Have some automatons made to deliver the potion and the instant darkness powder to Soken."

"You're right," I said. "We are coming back, but it is the polite thing to do. Speaking of which, we cna't bring Loki with us. We'll need someone to watch him while we're gone."

"The trouble is, most of the people we know in this world were Orihime's friends long before they ever met us," noted Sloth. "Tatski would insist on coming along."

"Actually, she might be a perfect choice," I said. "Tatski and Keigo are too vulnerable to the espadas' spiritual pressure to be of help in Hueco Mundo. You and me will be alright because spiritual pressure only effects you if your own spiritual pressure is enough to let you sense it."

"I was thinking she might hold a grudge over why Orihime's gone in the first place," said Sloth.

"If she does, she'll save it for us," I said. "She isn't the sort of person who'd take it out on an innocent dog."

* * *

Entering Zaielaparo's lab undetected was a fairly straightforward process. Assimilating his database had left me with a complete map of all the traps and surveillance devices. A disillusionment charm kept me safe from casual observation, and all that practice concealing my spiritual pressure was paying off. I knew the lab's owner wouldn't walk in on me making flesh bombs and intangibility devices because he was politely introducing himself to my past self.

Sloth hadn't come back in time with me to minimize the risk of us getting caught. I installed an intangibility device into my substitute soul reaper badge, which wasn't transmitting at the moment in case Aizen could intercept the signal. A second device I integrated into the protective cover for Sloth's Soul Gem. The third device I made for Orihime had the same bracelet design as Zaielaparo's devices, lacking only the invisibility function that wouldn't be much help in a city filled with arancars.

The flesh bombs were golf ball sized lumps of tissue resembling tumors. They could be planted inside a subject without their knowledge and detonated remotely. The explosion would destroy the subject's internal organs. The only think I'd need to be careful about was to make sure I didn't implant the bomb too close to a hollow hole.

Zaielaparo was my first target. Invisible and intangible, I simply shoved my hand through his chest and left a flesh bomb near his heart and lungs. As the most likely person to notice, the fact that I was able to implant a flesh bomb in him undetected was encouraging. Espadas ten through four were implanted before it was time to replace the version of me that had gone back in time from Orihime's room.

"We're going to go finish our tour with Tosen," I said. "Remember, if you need us, use the mirror." Telepathically, I added, "Four through ten are implanted. The bracelet in your pocket will let you go intangible."

Orihime nodded and said, "I understand."

Tosen was right outside the door when Sloth and I stepped out and closed the door behind us. He didn't speak, instead waiting for us to make the first move addressing what had just happened.

"You didn't know your tour was a distraction while Aizen sent arancars to kidnap Orihime," said Sloth.

"I didn't," confirmed Tosen. "Lord Aizen knew the both of you could read minds. He trusted his own mental discipline, wisely it seems, but he couldn't risk telling me."

"You know the problem this creates," I said. "If Aizen makes the mistake of hurting her, then Soul King or no Soul King, I'm going to have to kill him."

"You also realize we will hold the ruler responsible for the acts of any of his minions," added Sloth. "If he fails to protect her while in his custody, that's the same as him ordering her harmed."

"I appreciate you saying it outright," said Tosen. "I do understand, as few in Hueco Mundo or the Soul Society do."

"Now that the ulterior motive's been exposed, why don't we finish our tour?" I suggested. I'd still like to meet the rest of the espada."

* * *

Halibel was a tall, blond arancar who wore a high collar zipped closed to conceal the mask fragments covering the entire lower half of her face. She was attended to by her fraccion, three female arancars named Apache, Mila Rose, and Tsun Tsun. Halibel herself was a quiet, contemplative sort, contrasting starkly with her loud, bickering fraccion.

"They're all fiercly loyal to each other," reported Sloth telepathically. "They have been since they were ordinary hollows. They joined Aizen after one of his experimental arancars attacked them. Aizen killed the experimental arancar, saved them, and offered to make them arancars so they'd have the power to protect themselves and each other."

"That's suspicious," I thought back, "especially for the third most powerful arancar in Aizen's army."

"Especially since before Aizen got involved, the second espada tried recruiting them into his army repeatedly," thought Sloth. "Now they're under him despite still not liking or caring about the other espada."

"Between the four of them, someone has to have considered the possibility that was a setup," I thought back.

"They did," confirmed Sloth. "Aizen kept his promise about making them stronger and they've never been able to prove their suspicions."

"Do we have any way to talk them around, convince them to abandon Aizen?"

"Not that I can see," thought Sloth, "which is really too bad. They're basically the good arancars we'd been hoping to find. They even decided to become arancars because they didn't want to eat souls to gain power."

"So, she's going to die because she's on the wrong side of a war," I thought sadly. "I hate having to do things like that."

"The good news is that their loyalty to Aizen doesn't seem to be the undying sort," thought Sloth. "We can kill them, defeat Aizen, then bring them back to life after the war's over."

"Can I ask you to push the button when the time comes?" I asked. "I don't think I've really internalized how much your powers change what it means to kill someone. If I really grasped it, soul deep, I don't think my zanpakto would work the way it does."

"I'll do it," agreed Sloth. "I doubt they'd be happy having copies of themselves in your bankai anyway."

The second espada, Baragan, was in many ways the oposite of Halibel. He was a white haired old man with a bushy white mustache. Halibel was tall and thin while Baragan was short and stocky. Halibel hid her mask fragments while Baragan wore his like a crown. Halibel was fiercely loyal to her three friends while Baragan surrounded himself with minions he couldn't care less about.

Before Aizen had taken over, Baragan had been the ruler of Hueco Mundo. He hated Aizen for usurping his throne and would be easy to turn against the former captain. Unfortunately, he was a megalomaniac in love with his own power who we could never have a lasting peace with. I had no qualms about killing him.

Finally, Tosen led Sloth and I to the final palace, home of the first espada, Coyote Stark. Once in the room with the first espada, I found myself gasping for breath and falling to my knees under the weight of an incredible amount of spiritual pressure. I put on my hollow mask and that let me breathe normally again and get back to my feet.

"Sorry about that," said Stark sincerely. He had short brown hair and the lower jaw of his former mask now served as a necklace. "It's a problem I have. I'm too strong, so people who aren't strong enough tend to die around me. It's been a pretty lonely existance until Lord Aizen came along and introduced me to the espada."

"It doesn't look like she was effected at all, Stark," said a second arancar pointing at Sloth. This second arancar looked like a green haired, ten year old girl. Her mask fragment acted as a horned helmet with an eyepiece. She was dressed provacatively in briefs, thigh high boots, arm warners, and an open half vest that showed off most of her flat chest, including the hollow hole in the center of it.

"My name is Sloth," she introduced herself to the arancar girl. "You don't seem to have any trouble with the spiritual pressure.

"Of course, I don't," said the arancar girl. "Me and Stark have been together since the beginning. I'm Lilinette, by the way. Lilinette Gingerback."

"Are you okay, Greed?" asked Sloth.

"Yeah," I replied, my voice distorted like that of my inner hollow. "With the mask on, the spiritual pressure isn't so bad. I wouldn't want to try and sleep in here, but otherwise, I'm fine."

"That's good," said Sloth. Then she smirked and added, "At first, I thought that reaction was to Lilinette's outfit."

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded Lilinette.

"It really says something about the spiritual pressure that I didn't notice the hot, half dressed girl right away," I said.

"Are you making fun of me?" asked Lilinette with her eyes narrowed.

"No way," said Sloth. "Actually, I think it's a really good look. I'm gonna try it out."

Sloth closed her cloak around herself then opened it, revealing her black bodysuit had been separaated out into the same set of garments Lilinette was wearing, just made from the same black material instead of Lilinette's white.

"I like it," I said, taking in Sloth's barely covered body.

"I should go," said Tosen. He was trying not to show it, but Stark's spiritual pressure was straining him as well.

Once he was gone, Stark said, "You don't have to stay. I can tell that even using your hollowficcation, you're feeling the pressure."

"It's good for me to spend some time in spiritual pressure like this," I said. "Hollows may only get stronger by eating other souls, but soul reapers can get stronger as a direct response to being in danger."

"You want to get stronger?" asked Stark.

"Of course," I said, confused.

"I've always envied the weak," said Stark. "When you're weak, you can stay with the pack, have friends. Strong as I am, the only thing I can hope for is strong comrades like the espada."

"You want to be weak?" I asked, my mind working. "You want to be able to blend in with a crowd and make whatever friends you want without your spiriual pressure hurting them. How badly do you want that?"

"What do you mean?" asked Stark without getting up from the couch he'd been lounging on since we'd arrived.

"Would you trade your current comrades, abandon Aizen and his cause if it meant you could be weak and fade into a crowd?"

"I suppose I would," mused Stark. "Are you saying you can make that happen?"

"I'm saying Aizen's known how to give you that all along," I replied. "I'll give it to you right here, right now, if you'll take the bargain."

"Turning against Lord Aizen here and now, and becoming weak at the same time means we'd be dead and couldn't enjoy the benefits," said Lilinette.

I took out two pair of spirit energy sealing manacles from my utility belt and set them on a table. "The Soul Society uses these to seal the spirit energy of their prisoners." I removed the locks and chains through careful use of transfiguraion. "Put them on and you'll be weak. Take them off and you're back to being strong."

Stark stood up and walked over to the table, picking up one of the bracers and staring at it, transfixed. Lilinette was likewise staring in silence.

"The Soul Society has other technology that can help you," I said. "Tattoos that limit your spirit energy to one fifth of its full power, badges that limit it to a tenth. The captain of squad 11 wears an eye patch that cuts his spirit energy in half."

"I think they're serious, Stark," said Lilinette.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Stark.

"When Aizen calls the espada to battle, don't answer," I said. "Go into hiding for a few days. When Aizen and the other espada are defeated, come to the Soul Society. In the Rukon Distroct, there's a university. Tell the people there I sent you and they'll hook you up with every power limiter in the books and help you start your new lives as ordinary Rukon dwellers."

"We have a deal," said the most powerful espada in Aizen's army.

Sloth and I held hands and apparated back to Orihme's room where I removed my mask, hid my spiritual pressure, cast a disillusionment charm on myself, and turned back time. Planting the flesh bomb in Halibel felt wrong, but I sucked up my distaste and did it. When I inserted the flesh bomb into Baragan's body, I felt faint. It was all I could do to apparate back to Orihime's room and pass out.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Sticking your hand into Baragan's body without understanding what his powers are and how they work is ill advised.


	52. Chapter 60: Allies on the Journey to Las

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 60) Allies on the Journey to Las Noches  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

After dropping Loki off with Tatski along with an explanation about what was going on, Sloth and I went to Urahara's shop. Chad and Uryu were already there. Kuiske had filled them both in on the situation.

"I do have a way for you to enter Hueco Mundo," confirmed Kiske. "I've been researching the garganta the hollows use to travel between worlds in order to send a team of captains after Aizen. One of the things I've learned I suspect you'll find particularly interesting is that the garganta inherently handles spirit particle conversion, meaning I don't need to make any additional modifications to send you there in your physical bodies."

"Thank you for helping us," I said.

"It was my fault all this happened in the first place," said Kiske. "I knew Orihime would be targeted. Aizen would want to make use of her abilities. I should have taken more steps to ensure her safety. I also could have answered all your questions about Aizen's motivations and prevented that part of the mess we find ourselves in."

"You're not a god," said Sloth. "You can't foresee every possibility."

"I appreciate that," said Kiske. "In answer to your question to the Head Captain, the Soul King is no threat to anyone. Very few people know this, but the Soul King has been a powerless figurehead for some time. At one time, he was able to use his vast powers to enforce his will on the Soul Society, and his status as the linchpin of creation meant even those with the power to destroy him didn't dare do so.

"Rather than kill him, the soul reapers figured out how to seal him within a barrier which prevents him from voluntarily using his powers to effect the world while allowing him to continue fulfilling his role as the linchpin of creation. As for the Oken, the Soul King's powers are typically used to bestow the Oken without any kind of sacrifice. The method Aizen's using was only ever supposed to be needed if we lost all access to the Royal Realm."

"If he's contained behind a barrier, won't Aizen's assassination attempt risk freeing him?" asked Uryu.

"Much as he likes to pretend otherwise, Aizen has weaknesses, overconfidence chief among them," noted Kiske. "Come on. Ichigo'll be here soon. We should head downstairs. I've set up the equipment for opening the garganta in the training area."

As we climbed down the ladder, Uryu asked, "Are you going to be able to convince your other selves to come back to their senses?"

"Kiske's explanation about the Soul King'll help," said Sloth, "but when it comes down to it, it'll really only take three words to get us back on side. Aizen abducted Orihime."

I nodded. "We owe her everything. He signed his own death warrant when he went after her."

It wasn't long before Ichigo arrived. He'd already shed his body and appeared in soul reaper form. Sloth and I could see him thanks to the Mad Eye in each of our right eye sockets. I could see he was surprised to see the four of us there. My lip reading practice let me determine that he was trying to tell us he was going alone.

"I know you must feel like you can't trust Sloth and me at your back, but please, we can help."

"It's not that," said Ichigo, his lips moving slowly and deliberately. "You aren't strong enough."

Chad punched him, sending him flying backward a good ten feet. "You aren't the only one who's been training for this fight. We've all gotten stronger."

"You didn't really expect us to let you go on your own, did you, Kurosaki?" asked Uryu.

I couldn't lip read the next part from Ichigo, but from Chad and Uryu's reactions, he didn't have any more objections.

"That settled," I said, relieved, "let's get everyone geared up. Ever since learning that the fight with Aizen was coming, we've been gathering weapons for the confrontation." I passed out vests made from soul synthesized silver, explaining, "The chain mail itself is indestructible. It won't make you invincible wearing it,but it will spread out any impact and hopefully turn a fatal wound into something survivable."

Sloth handed out potions, explaining, "We optimized these potions for each of your individual abilities. Don't take anyone else's. One swallow will make you stronger, boost your reflexes, sharpen your wits, and make you immune to a variety of common harmful phenomenon. It'll last about ten minutes and there's enough for ten doses for each of you."

"We didn't limit ourselves to weapons that were technically legal," I said as I took out three tuning fork shaped short swords. "We salvaged and duplicated Shuske Amagai's bakoto. You've all seen the consequences of overusing a bakoto, but the special ability of this one is vital."

"It seals away soul reaper powers," said Ichigo, taking one and holstering it on his belt. "We can use them to shut down Aizen, Gin, and Tosen."

"They also have the normal bakoto ability of overclocking your soul, granting a massive boost in power at the cost of potentially burning yourself out entirely," I added. "That might save your life in a tough fight with the espada."

While the others geared up, Sloth and I donned the Ultimate Shield. We fused our right eye shut since the Mad Eye in that socket could see through solid objects including the diamond hard eyelid protecting them. Once we left the world of the living, Sloth and I would no longer be able to shape shift so we'd be in the form of bald, grey skinned, barely humanoid creatures until we returned.

After a brief explanation, Kiske used a kido chant, and a pair of wooden pillars embedded in a cliff face, to open a garganta. As one, the five of us leaped into the swirling black void.

* * *

Soul reapers and fullbringers achieved high speed movement through very similar mechanisms. They use their powers to create virtual footholds on the ground or in midair that allow them to push off with forces that would shatter the ground beneath their feet and leave them devoid of traction. As a result, Ichigo and Chad had no trouble forming crude paths through the garganta to run on.

Uryu, Sloth, and I were relying on the quincy high speed movement technique called hirenkyaku. Sloth and I were relying on the quincy bangles clamped to our left wrists to allow us to use the technique. Hirenkyaku involved the quincy gathering a flow of spirit particles under their feet and riding it. Employing a slight variation on the technique, the three of us formed glowing blue surf boards under our feet and rode them alongside Chad and Ichigo.

At length, we reached the other side and arrived in Hueco Mundo proper. The garganta had opened into an artificial structure. Obviously engineered, square based support pillars supported the ceiling of a good sized hallway. Artificial lights were installed in the ceiling. The garganta had closed behind us.

"Nobody move," I said.

"What is it?" asked Ichigo.

"This place is full of traps," I reported. "I can see the mechanisms hidden in the walls, floor, and ceiling."

"How'd they know this is where we'd arrive?" asked Sloth.

"Aizen's had a lot longer to study the garganta thank Kiske," said Uryu. "Either he has some way of influencing where the garganta opens or he has some way of predicting it."

"It can't be something he can do in real time," I said. "This place is built like a fixed fortification."

"We aren't getting anywhere standing around here talking," said Ichigo. "Those eyes of yours can see the traps, so just start walking and we'll follow your footsteps."

"Right," Sloth and I said together.

We walked side by side and the others followed, careful to step where we stepped. A few minutes later, I raised a hand to signal a halt and stopped moving.

"What is it?" asked Chad.

"We aren't alone," I said in a low voice. "There's an arancar down the corridor to the left. Big one. He can barely squeeze through the corridor."

"Good," said Ichigo. "Let's go beat him up and make him tell us where you and Orihime are."

"Can you find us somewhere more open to fight?" asked Uryu.

"If he's that big, wouldn't it be better to fight him in these tight halls?" asked Chad.

"Sloth, would you mind looking through the ceiling and telling us how far underground we are?" asked Uryu.

"About a hundred feet," reported Sloth. "It's loosely packed sand directly above us for most of that."

"How did you know we were underground?" demanded Ichigo.

"By paying attention to my surroundings," said Uryu. "I'm sure you've noticed that there hasn't been a single window so far. Anyway, if we fight in these narrow corridors, we'll risk bringing down the ceiling and being buried alive."

"This way," I said, leading our party to the right. "I found an open room with a high ceiling. We should be good to fight there."

We reached the room I'd identified just as the giant arancar caught up with us. A second arancar soinidoed in to block us from heading up a stairway that Sloth identified as leading to the surface. This new arancar didn't have legs and hovered instead of walking.

Ichigo went to fight the arancars, but Uryu and Chad were eager to throw down and made Ichigo sit it out. After trying to go to Hueco Mundo alone because he didn't think anyone else had anything to contribute, Ichigo deserved their commentary about him needing to stay out of the way.

The arancars guarding the place were second rate. Neither Chad nor Uryu had any trouble defeating them. They didn't need to resort to fighting at full strength, much less use the enhancement potions they carried.

We were about to get started interrogating them when a self destruct triggered and began collapsing the whole structure. We left our defeated opponents to die and ran up the stairs, barely reaching the surface before being crushed by the sand above us.

On the surface, we got our first good look at Hueco Mundo itself. The sky was black save for a crescent moon hanging overhead. Endless dunes of grey sand stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction. Sparse, withered looking trees made of crystal were dotted here and there across the landscape. Off in the distance was a massive structure that must be the domed city of Las Noches.

Sloth took a small device from her utility belt and said, "Orihime's definitely in there." She pointed at Las Noches.

"Aizen probably knows we're coming," I said. "He'd have to be an idiot to set up a trapped hall like that and not monitor it, and I don't think we're that lucky."

"Well, unless you brought along a magic carpet, we should start running," said Ichigo.

"I should have," I said as we set off. "We're lucky we showed up close enough for Las Noches to be in view." 

* * *

A couple hours into our run, Las Noches hadn't grown noticeably larger in our field of vision. I had to explain to Ichigo that in arid places like this, the lack of moisture in the air meant very distant objects were more clearly visible than one might expect, leading to the optical illusion that they were closer than they really were.

Sloth was not any happier traveling on foot trough the desert than she had been the first time years ago. After the first ten minutes, I was carrying her piggy back. From her elevated vantage point, she was the first to notice a danger on the horizon.

"Sand storm!" she called out.

I took out my kido gun and looked through the scope, saying, "It's too big and coming too fast for us to avoid it. We need to dig a shelter and cover it with a tarp, quick."

Chad and Ichigo quickly dug out a space to hid in while Sloth and I dug through our pockets pulling out old cloaks, changes of clothes, and whatever other scraps of cloth we could find. Uryu deftly sewed them all together into a single piece for us to take shelter under.

"I never thought those sewing skills of yours would actually save our lives," said Ichigo while we laid under the tarp and heard the storm blowing over us.

"Still think you should have come alone?" needled Uryu.

"I said I was sorry," said Ichigo. "I know we're stronger together than we are apart."

"It shouldn't take too long for this storm to blow past us," I said. "The way it was moving, we should be back underway in just a few minutes."

I was right. As soon as the sand storm passed, I pocketed the tarp and we got back to running. It was another couple of hours before anything else interesting happened.

Our group had stopped for a short break to catch our breath. Las Noches hadn't gotten visibly closer, but the tracking device had been steadily counting down distance as we ran. We weren't in a spatial warp. Las Noches was just that big and that far away.

As we rested, a small lizard with a white mask and a hollow hole popped out of the sand near Ichigo's hand, sniffed around, then disappeared back underground. Uryu speculated that the significantly higher spirit energy in the air here in Hueco Mundo compared to the world of the living and even the Soul Society allowed some of the weaker hollows to sustain themselves by just breathing the air instead of needing to hunt souls. He added that the ambient spirit energy made spiritual beings much stronger here than in the other worlds we'd been to and that Sloth and I, who weren't getting that boost, ought to be careful when the fighting started.

Our conversation was cut short when we heard a scream. A pack of hollows was chasing a little girl who was screaming and crying as she ran. The girl looked human. My first guess was that the hollows had abducted her from the world of the living or the Soul Society and were making sport of her.

Sloth tackled the girl to the ground and shielded her with her body. I leapt at the largest hollow, a gigantic worm like creature with no eye holes in its mask and human like lips and teeth. I choke slammed it down to the ground on its back with the momentum of my leap. Chad decked a humanoid hollow with overly large head, hands, and feet who wore a polka dot outfit that made identifying his hollow hole impossible. Uryu stopped the remaining hollow, a thin humanoid creature with an insectoid mask wearing armor and a loincloth by simply appearing in front of him with a glowing arrow at his throat. We'd all been careful not to kill the hollows so Ichigo could deal the finishing blow with his zanpakto.

The white cloth wrapping Ichigo's zapnaptko unraveled. The exposed blade gleamed in the moonlight. The girl Sloth was shielding cried out.

"Stop that! Leave them alone! What'd we do to you? Stop picking on us will you? Why don't you just leave us alone?"

Sloth released the girl, who pulled back the hood on her green robe to reveal the cracked remains of a hollow mask covering the crown of her head with short bluegreen hair sticking out from under it. A nasty looking, but long healed scar cut between her eyes and down along one side of her nose. A blotchy red mark ran along the top of both cheeks and across the bridge of her nose. A quick check with the Mad Eye sowed that she had a hole running sideways through her head which was why the eye holes in her mask had the same characteristic darkness of a hollow hole.

We backed off, letting the group of hollows gather together. There was no sign of hostility or fear between them, though they seemed afraid of us. They all bowed low in our direction.

"Please, leave us alone," said the girl, apparently the chosen spokesman of the group. What I knew about arancars indicated that the stronger they were, the more likely they were to take on a human form, so she was likely the strongest. I silently cursed the fact that I was limited to five senses to assess the situation while she continued, "We're really sorry. We never thought our game of eternal tag would cause such a misunderstanding. It'll never happen again."

"You mean you play a game called eternal tag?" confirmed Uryu.

"Unfortunately, there's nothing else to do here in Hueco Mundo to pass the time," said the girl. The endless empty desert in every direction had be silently acknowledging the point.

"Eternal tag?" said Ichigo. "But you were crying while you were running away from them."

"Sure," said the girl cheerfully. "Nel is a masochist, and it's no fun for Ne unless Nel is chased to the point where Nel starts to cry."

Ichigo punched the nearest of the hollows, yelling, "Why are you teaching this kid words like masochist?""

"Calm down, Ichigo," I said. "Hollow's ages are cosmetic, remember?"

"You would remember that, wouldn't you," said Ichigo rolling his eyes.

Uryu got the conversation off that topic saying, "Wait, I'm confused. Nel is your name, right?"

"That's right," said the girl. "Nel is an arancar and Nel's full name is Nel Tu."

"An arancar?" asked Ichigo, slow to catch on.

"Nel sure is," said Nel. "Oh, and these are Nel's brothers."

"I'm Nel's older brother, Pesche," said the thin hollow in the insect mask and loin cloth.

"I'm the oldest brother, Dondachaka," said the hollow with the oversized hands, head, and feet and the yellow polka dot suit.

"And this guy right here is our pet," said Nel pointing at the giant worm like hollow. "His name is Bawabawa."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," said Ichigo.

"You have a question?" asked Nel.

"Since when do arancars all of a sudden have siblings and pets?" demanded Ichigo.

"What do you mean? Arancars have always had those," said Nel.

"When I met Nel,s he was so cute that I decided to become her big brother, you know what I'm talkin' about?" explained Dondachaka.

"Yep, same here," added Pesche.

"But... that means you're not really siblings at all," said Ichigo.

All of the hollows freaked out at Ichigo's pronouncement.

"If these guys aren't my siblings, what are they?" demanded Nel in a panic.

"Not her brother? What are you talkin' about?" demanded Dodnachaka in a similar tone.

"No way!" screamed Nel, holding her head.

"Eh- I mean, what am I talking abot?" Ichigo backpedaled. "Sure, you guys can definitely be siblings."

"You'd think someone who has Rukia for a friend would remember blood isn't what makes family," Sloth chided Ichigo while the hollows calmed down.

"This is all so bizarre," said Ichigo, accepting hte criticism. "You sure you guys are really arancars?"

"Hey, what are you trying to say?" demanded Nel. "Can't you see this here? A beautifully cracked arancar mask."

"It's just that..." began Ichigo, searching for the right words, "you seem different from the arancars that came to the world of the living."

"Oh," said Nel, getting his meaning, "but of course we do! The arancars who went to the world of the living are called numeros."

Nel launched into an explanation of the rankings and power structure of Aizen's army. The gist was that this particular group wasn't part of that structure at all due to being too weak to merit notice. The term she used was garbage bugs. The others were wistful about how much more comfortable a life the numeros enjoyed.

"You have some nerve telling us we don't look like arancars when you look even less like arancars than we do," said Nel. "You don't have a mask and you wear a black kimono. You're dressed like a..."

"A soul reaper, you know what I mean?" supplied Dondachaka.

"Yeah, like a soul reaper," agreed Pesche.

Suddenly, they looked terrified and Nel asked, "What are you guys anyway?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute soul reaper," said Ichigo proudly.

"Uryu Ishida," he said adjusting his glasses. "I am a quincy."

"Yasutora Sado, and I'm human."

"I'm Greed. This is Sloth. We're homunculi," I said.

The three siblings freaked out among themselves before. Nel declared, "You know what this means? You're the bad guys!"

"Okay, let me get this out of the way," I Said, stepping forward. "As long as you aren't going to the world of the living and attacking innocent humans or anything like that, we don't have to be enemies. I don't know what your encounters with other soul reapers have been like, but that's the way we operate. Honestly, I've wanted to meet an arancar who didn't make themselves my enemy for a long time."

"From the sound of it, they probably don't know any of the advanced techniques you were hoping to learn," hissed Sloth in parceltongue.

"You don't know much about arancars, do you?" said Nel. She went into another explanation covering the basics.

Ordinary hollows are overwhelmed by their instincts, which causes them to be violent, antisocial, and compels them to eat souls. Becoming an arancar puts the original human consciousness back in control. That didn't make arancars good any more than humans are inherently good, but without the compulsion to consume souls, arancars weren't inherently evil.

I'd have liked to stay and talk more, but we'd come to Hueco Mundo for a reason and had to get back to it. As we prepared to go, I took a wizard chess set out of my pocket and gave it to Nel. The enchanted figures could teach the game to this odd family when they didn't feel like another round of eternal tag.

As we said our goodbyes, a voice boomed around us. "I have been informed by Las Noches that invaders were on their way to the palace." The sand rose up and formed itself into a thirty story tall humanoid torso with a mask and a hollow hole in the center of its chest.

"That's Ruroganda, the guardian of the white sands," sputtered Nel nervously.

"I never expected intruders would be using garbage bugs like you as spies," boomed Ruroganda. "You will all die."

As Nel tried to sputter an explanation to the giant hollow, Ichigo stepped in front of her, noted that Ruroganda didn't seem to be listening, and bisected Ruroganda's head with a getsuga tensho from his shikai. Nel and her brothers were less than appreciative of the rescue.

"I can't believe you just did that!"

"That was a blatant sneak attack!"

"He's a bad guy!"

"Hey, I saved you too," said Ichigo. "Besides, that wasn't a sneak attack. I attacked him head on."

"You can't even admit to performing a sneak attack," boomed Ruroganda's voice as the sand flowed together, restoring the enormous hollow completely.

Ruroganda's fist came down on where Ichigo and Nel were standing. Ichigo grabbed the little arancar and leapt out of the way. Ruroganda swung his arm out and conjured a sand tornado in front of him. Another getsuga tensho from Ichigo dissipated the storm and again bisected Ruroganda's head. It was no more effective than the last time he had done it.

"Ichigo, get back," I ordered. "Brute force isn't going to take this guy down. Give me a shot at him."

"What are you gonna do?" asked Ichigo skeptically when he landed at my side.

I took a step toward the giant sand monster with a smirk on my face and reached into my pocket. "Most of my powers don't work here, but I am very well armed. Guys, but your heads together with the nearest arancar."

I pulled a small potted plant out of my pocket. Keeping my eyes on Ruroganda, I pulled hte plant out of its pot roots and all. The silencing spells on my goggles kicked in and shielded me from the screams of the mandrake seedling. Ruroganda dissolved, his body unable to maintain cohesion after being knocked unconscious by the mandrake's scream. I knelt down and carefully repotted the seedling, carefully covering every inch of the squirming, human shaped roots. The silencing spell switched off now that the plant was no longer letting out its debilitating scream.

"What did you do?" asked Uryu separating himself from Pesche.

"Mandrakes are a magical plant that lets out a deadly scream when they're pulled out of the ground," I explained.

"You killed him?" asked Nel as Ichigo pulled her off his face.

"Only fully mature mandrakes kill," I clarified. "Seedlings like these will knock someone out, though."

Climbing down from Bawabawa, Sloth added, "We're all carrying magic items that protect from sonic attacks. That's why we had to put our heads together, so you wouldn't be knocked out too."

"Like those poor suckers over there," said Pesche, pointing at two cloaked figures lying in a heap on a nearby dune.

The cloaked figures turned out to be Rukia and Renji. We couldn't stay here and wait for them to wake up since Ruroganda would likely be coming around at the same time. Ichigo picked up Rukia and Chad took Renji. We were about to set out again when Nel called out for us to wait.

"Nel will guide you to Las Noches," she said.

We all climbed aboard Bawabawa who set out toward the domed city.

* * *

Rukia and Renji started to stir at about the same time. It turned out as soon as they got to the Soul Society, Byakuya let them go, claiming his orders had only been to bring them back not detain them once there. They'd hurried right back to help us rescue Orihime, but they'd just missed us. Kiske opened a garganta for them and once in Hueco Mundo, they followed Ichigo's spirit energy to us.

We were in the middle of explaining how we befriended Nel, Pesche, and Dondachaka when Ruroganda appeared before us, intent on preventing us from reaching Las Noches. Even sharing, I didn't have enough goggles to protect our whole party from another mandrake scream. Rukia released her zanpakto and prepared to use her hakuren technique to freeze the sand giant, but forgot we were riding on Bawabawa. Instead of piercing the ground in front of her four times, she stabbed Bawabawa, who bucked and writhed in pain.

Rukia was thrown off as Ruroganda opened a sand pit beneath us. There wasn't much time to do anything but hold on as we were sucked down below the surface. Instead of being crushed or suffocated, we were dumped into a massive underground cavern.

The ceiling was hundreds of feet high, supported by thick columns made of the same crystal as the trees on the surface. Beams of moonlight came from other gaps in the layer of desert sand above dimly illuminating the area.

Bawabawa and the other arancars couldn't fly. Our entire group was plummeting. With no way of guaging the spirit energy of Nel and her brothers, I couldn't be sure they'd survive a fall from this height like the rest of us could.

I pulled a pair of ginto from my pocket and called out, "Tilt the goblet to the west. Wolke!" Spirit energy stored in the silver tubes streamed out as the quincy spell took effect. A cushion of spirit energy broke our fall then popped in a harmless explosion.

A quick assessment showed that Rukia wasn't with us. Nel and her brothers were terrified, explaining that this enormous cavern was called the Menos Forest and was home to untold numbers of gilleons. It was a part of Hueco Mundo you avoided if you didn't want to be eaten. While we were falling, Uryu had spotted a group of gilleons, but they'd moved on for some reason.

Our first priority was to find Rukia then find our way out of this cavern. No one was having much luck sensing Rukia's spirit energy, so we resorted to calling out to her and walking a circular, expanding search pattern. After a few minutes with no results from that tactic, Uryu, Chad, and Bawabawa climbed one of the pillars, which were really the trunks of massive crystal trees, branches of which sticking out of the desert above we'd mistaken for whole trees. From their position, they spotted a large group of ordinary hollows coming our way.

Chad and Uryu held off the hollows with ranged attacks until their numbers reached the point that some got through. Sloth, Ichigo, Renji, and I weren't having any trouble with the hollows that got through. Then the menos showed up. Dozens of gilleon class menos grande lumbered toward us.

Sloth and I crouched down and launched ourselves at the menos. Each of us landed a punch square in the center of a gilleon's mask. We both punched right through their heads, pushed off one of the crystal tree trunks behind the gilleons, then launched ourselves at a pair of fresh gilleons. Pin balling from one crystal tree trunk to the next, we quickly shredded the gileons. Our last jump landed us back next to Ichigo and the others.

"Where'd Nel and her brothers go?" asked Sloth.

"Bawabawa got nervous when the menos grande showed up," explained Uryu. "He started shaking and messed up my and Chad's aim. Some of the flying hollows got through and grabbed them."

"It looks like Bawabawa knows where they went," said Chad, drawing attention to the worm like hollow shaking its head in a particular direction.

"Let's get going," said Ichigo. "We'll rescue Nel, then find Rukia."

We followed Bawabawa. The fight had depleted the nearby hollows, so our trip was uneventful until we reached a cliff where Nel, Pesche, and Dondachaka were standing. On spotting us, Nel screamed for us to run away just before a cero came in at us from an unnoticed gilleon. Employing the quincy bangle on my left wrist, I got in the way of the cero with hirenkyaku. The kido shields built into my uniform activated and stopped the cero from doing any damage.

A group of hollows near Nel and her brothers stepped out of hiding, with their spokesman declaring, "Nobody move unless you want your friends here eaten. The guardian Lord Aizen put in charge of the Forest of Menos wanted to fight Ashido himself. We can't have you interfering."

The group of gilleons nearby opened their mouths to charge ceros, when my sense of sound cut out and all the hollows collapsed. Sloth moved her cloak aside and repotted the mandrake seedling she'd used. Our ability to hear came back when the seedling was properly covered by soil again.

"An area effect stun like that is really useful in a hostage situation," noted Uryu.

"Too bad it took out Renji too," said Ichigo.

"It was the safest choice," said Sloth. "Can you finish off the unconscious hollows with your zanpakto while the rest of us make Renji, Nel, and her brothers comfortable?"

"It doesn't feel right finishing them off like this when they can't defend themselves," said Ichigo.

"No choice," I said. "We still have to find Rukia and we can't have them at our backs."

Ichigo wasn't happy about it, but he finished off the hollows. By the time he was done, Renji, Nel, and her brothers had come around. I handed out a few headache remedies to deal with any lingering aftereffects. We were about to get back to looking for Rukia when she showed up followed by a man with red-brown hair, a black soul reaper uniform, a zanpakto, and a fur cloak with a dozen hollow masks on it.

Rukia made introductions. The soul reaper was Ashido. He'd come to Hueco Mundo a few hundred years ago when he and his friends fended off a hollow attack on the Seireitei. They'd unknowingly pursued the hollows through the garganta and end up in the Forest of Menos. Ashido was the only survivor, his friends all having died in the meantime. Ashido had agreed to join us rescuing Orhime and then wished to leave Hueco Mundo to return to the Soul Society.

Nel had learned how to get back to the surface during her time held captive. Once back topside, we again set out for Las Noches. As we rode Bawabawa, we filled Ashido in on the details of what was going on with Aizen.

* * *

Author's comments:  
It was fun making use of things like the gintos, the mandrakes, and other items that don't require any particular level of spirit energy to use.


	53. Chapter 61: Nel's Enemies

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 61) Nel's Enemies  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Upon arriving at the outer wall of Las Noches, we were surprised to discover it was not made from sekiseki stone. As a result, tunneling in using spirit energy was a viable option. Ichigo and Renji wasted no time blowing a hole through the extremely thick wall. Ichigo tried to send Nel away for her protection, but Nel reasonably pointed out that since she'd helped us and Ruroganda had been able to report back, she would already be considered a traitor. As such, it would be safer for her to stay close to us.

Our tunnel led us, after a fashion, to a circular room with five doors leading out. Sloth identified the door that led most directly toward Orihime. Our spiritually aware friends sensed strong spiritual pressures ahead. Aizen knew we were coming and from where. The arancars in our path had been placed deliberately.

"All right, everyone," I said, pulling a silvery cloak out of my pocket, "who remembered to bring your invisibility cloaks?"

No one had forgotten. Our added numbers meant we had to squeeze multiple people under a single cloak, but there were enough cloaks to hide our entire party. We proceeded carefully, with Sloth and I herding the others since our Mad Eyes let us see the others beneath their cloaks.

The corridor had a lot of machinery hidden in the walls, ceiling, and floor. Some of it was design to make it possible to rearrange the floor plan. Other devices served as triggers for traps of various sorts. To avoid the traps and continue moving silently, Sloth and I kept a close eye on the others and physically guided them away from any triggers they got too close to. We'd progressed a good distance when the floor opened up beneath us.

As we fell, we were sprayed with ink and dumped into a wide, high ceilinged hall. A male arancar with pink hair and mask fragments on the form of glasses was waiting for us. He was wearing a smug, self satisfied expression as he addressed us.

"Congratulations on evading so many of my traps. In the end, I was forced to just open the entire floor and hope you had been delayed long enough to still be in the corridor. You should know most intruders don't manage nearly so well. I am arancar number eight, Zaelaparo Granz, at your service."

"Heads together," said Sloth. We did so and she pulled a mandrake seedling out of its pot and brandished it at Zaelaparo. I couldn't hear the plant's scream, but I could hear the espada laughing.

"You didn't honestly think you could keep getting by on the same trick, did you?" asked Zaelaparo in a mocking tone. "I've been analyzing all your battles so far and have prepared countermeasures for all your techniques. This one was as simple as flooding the room with a sound that perfectly neutralizes the sounds your plants make."

"That's pretty impressive, considering we haven't used any plants in combat before coming to Hueco Mundo," I said. "I presume this was originally developed to neutralize Tosen's shikai and recently modified for mandrakes?"

"Letting potted plants to the fighting was getting boring anyway," said Renji. "Bankai! Hihio Zabemaru!" The enormous skeletal snake that was Renji's bankai was there for only a moment before it shattered and vanished.

"I did just explain I'd prepared counters for all your techniques," said Zaelaparo. "You can't use your bankai here."

"Ichigo," I said, taking out a small glass bottle, "the potion we gave you was optimized for your bankai speed. Don't drink it." I took a swallow from my bottle, closed the cap, and returned it to my pocket. Everyone but Ichigo did likewise.

As the potion took effect, I realized something was wrong. Time seemed to slow down as usual, but my body slowed down with it. Moving felt like fighting through gradually hardening molasses. This was exactly what I'd just warned Ichigo about. My perceptions were massively sped up, but my body couldn't keep up, leaving me effectively paralyzed.

The only ones effected were me and Sloth. It didn't take long to work out why. Looking behind the walls with the Mad Eye, I saw a sealing array identical to the one I used on my bracers while exercising or studying martial arts. The array neutralized the power of the red stones in my body that granted me superhuman strength and speed. Without that power, I was no stronger or faster than my muscles and body plan would suggest.

That wasn't all of Zaelaparo's tricks. He completely neutralized Uryu's quincy powers. Pulling the bangle off my wrists and putting it on his own didn't solve the problem.

Shikai apparently still worked, so Ichigo, Renji, Rukia, Chad, and Ashido went at Zaelaparo. Ichigo pulled on his hollow mask for a boost. The espada had studied everyone's fighting style and was able to effortlessly block close in attacks and neutralize ranged energy attacks using a quick bala.

Unable to move until my potion wore off,I turned my attention from the fight to analyzing the devices in the walls inhibiting our powers. Identifying the computer controlled speakers neutralizing the mandrake's cry was easy enough. There were a number of devices for manipulating spirit energy, and I had to diagram the circuit pattern of each in my head before I could say for sure what each was doing and more importantly, which we'd have to destroy to get back to full power.

I had that done by the time Ichigo's mask reached its time limit and shattered. At that point, Zaelaparo called in his fraccion, a gaggle of deformed aranars he sicked on our party rather than bother to keep fighting himself.

With his friends fighting for their lives against tough arancar opponents, and unable to fall back on the power of his bankai, the lessons the visoreds were trying to beat into Ichigo finally clicked. He resummoned his mask and used the boost in power to quickly finish off the fraccion he was fighting. The eight espada stepped in again, preventing Ichigo from coming to the rescue of his friends.

Ichigo fought ferociously, forcing Zaelaparo on the defensive. The fight lasted significantly longer than eleven seconds. At first, I thought his hollow had taken over again, but when a powerful overhead chop forced Zaelaparo to his knees, Ichigo disengaged to cut down the fraccion that was pressing Renji. Ichigo's hollow wouldn't have turned his back on his enemy to save a friend.

Zaelaparo took the opportunity to charge a cero and fire it at Ichigo's back. Nel interposed herself between Ichigo and Zaelaparo using a burst of soinido. Opening her mouth wide, Nel swallowed Zaelaparo's cero. Then she vomited it back up, aimed right back at Zaelaparo. The espada was caught by surprise and took the full force of his redirected cero.

Time started to move normally for me again as the smoke cleared revealing Zaelaparo's torn clothes and burned skin. Renji went to help Rukia while Ichigo moved to shield Nel from Zaelaparo's retribution.

"You've surprised me, Nelliel," said Zaelaparo. "I didn't expect you to retain any of your powers after what we did to you."

"What you did... to Nel?" asked Nel in nervous incomprehension.

Zaelaparo ignored her question, grabbing his nearest fraccion and eating the arancar. His burns and bruises vanished almost instantaneously.

I took advantage of his distraction, drawing a wand engraved with an elaborate alchemic array with an irregularly shaped red crystal affixed to the tip. Pointing it at the espada, the array glowed with a bright blue light. That light flew from teh wand in the blink of an eye and struck Zaelaparo in the chest. He collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.

"You! What did you do to me?" demanded Zaelaparo.

"Alchemy," I told Zaelaparo stepping toward him. "It mostly handles manipulating matter, but there are a couple of exceptions. It's possible to effect someone's mind with alchemy. I don't like doing it. The last time I did something like this in anger was when I ripped all knowledge of alchemy out of Sloth's miserable excuse for a father so he couldn't keep using it to harvest power from a death camp. I've been less cruel with you. All your scientific knowledge is still there. I've just erased your knowledge of how to move your limbs."

Zaelaparo looked at one of his fracciones with panic in his eyes and said, "My sword! I need to release!"

A shot from Sloth's kido gun shattered Zaelaparo's sword before the fraccion had taken a step.

"You didn't let us use our full powers," said Sloth. "It doesn't seem fair that you can use yours."

"Ichigo, aim getsugas there, there, and there," I directed. "That'll take out the machinery suppressing our powers."

The fracciones tried to run, bu chad and Uryu intercepted them. Ichigo with Nel clinging to his leg, came up to Zaelaparo and pointed his zanpakto at the helpless espada.

"You said you did something to Nel," said Ichigo. "You're gonna explain what you meant by that. Now."

"It's obvious he was just saying that to get under your skin," said Pesche. "We've never met his guy, right, Nel?"

"That's right," said Nel slowly. "Nel's never been inside Las Noches before today, and Nel would have remembered meeting one of the espada."

"I suppose it isn't surprising you don't remember after Noitora cracked your skull open," said Zaelaparo. "Where did you think you got that scar?"

"He's still trying to play us," said Dondachaka. "He'll say anything if he thinks it'll keep him alive a few more minutes, you know what I'm sayin'?"

"That girl has been manipulating you," said Zaelaparo. "She's a former espada! Noitora and I were responsible for defeating her and banishing her from Las Noches, and now she's using you to get her revenge!"

"It's a lie," said Nel. "Nel was never an espada, and she wouldn't use you like that!"

"It's okay Nel," said Ichigo, putting a hand on her head. "We trust you."

"She has a number on her back that proves it!" yelled Zaelaparo.

"You think we're going to strip a child on the say so of a defeated enemy?" asked Uryu. "I'd say at this point, the only thing to be done with is decide who should finish him off."

"To be honest, I have misgivings about trusting hollows," said Ashido.

"So you're gonna start with one of Aizen's espada?" I questioned. "I'll make this easy. I already knew about the number on her back. I saw it when I was checking for a hollow hole to verify she was an arancar."

"Why didn't you say something if you knew?" demanded Pesche.

"Nel didn't match the description of the third arancar I knew about, so I figured the tattoo was part of a trick to fool the other hollows into backing off. One that didn't work very well back in the Menos Forest," I explained. "Zaelaparo's story about memory loss makes me less suspicious, not more."

"Nel really did used to be an espada?" asked Nel, shocked.

"It's okay," said Sloth, putting her hands on Nel's shoulders. "We don't care about who you were. It's who you are that matters to us. And who you are is someone who saved Ichigo from a cero to the back just now."

"I understand," said Ashido. "I'll finish off our enemy."

Ashido's blade cut clean through Zaelaparo's neck. Green energy shot upward from the wound, forming into a massive pair of double doors, chained shut, with a giant skeleton half embedded into each door. The doors slid open, breaking the chains holding them, and an arm wielding a blade reached out of the crack and impaled Zaelaparo. The arancar screamed as he was pulled inside. The doors closed, then shattered, leaving no sign they'd ever been there.

"Now, you're going to explain why you've been keeping her past a secret from Nel," said Sloth, turning on Pesche and Dondachaka.

The two hollows bowed low, noses against the ground.

"We're sorry," said Pesche. "We were Master Nelliel's fraccion. Master Nelliel always hated fighting. She used to say that by becoming arancars and regaining our reason, we shouldn't fight unless there was a good reason. Even so, out of gratitude to Lord Aizen for making her an arancar, she served as an espada, which mean she had to fight a lot. After Noitora and Zaelaparo injured her, and she lost her memories and powers, we saw it as a chance to start over and give Nel the happy, peaceful life she always wanted."

"You did that for Nel?" asked the girl, touched.

"And for us," said Dondachaka. "I liked being your big brother a lot mroe than I liked being your fraccion, you know what I'm sayin'?"

* * *

I came to under Orihime's healing shield. I didn't know how long I'd been out. My body felt weak and I was as hungry as I could ever remember being.

Raised voices had woken me up. I looked around and saw a pair of female arancars standing over a bloody and bruised Orihime. One of the arancars was charging up a cero.

My spirit energy was almost empty, but what little power I had came at my call. Tsumi no Rensa released into its shikai state. The exertion nearly made me pass out again, but I held on to consciousness through sheer force of will.

A light swing was all it took to wrap Tsumi no Rensa around the arancars' legs. They looked down as I yanked. Links were added and removed rapidly, the chainsaw action cutting through their hiero and severing their legs at the ankle. The energy for the cero dissipated as they collapsed to their knees.

"Greed, you're okay," said Orihime.

"You aren't," I observed as I dragged myself to my feet. "What happened?"

"Are you made we roughed your princess up?" taunted one of the arancars. She started to charge a cero.

I was too weak, too tired, and too hungry to fight. I briefly considered eating the both of them to get my strength back. Then I closed my eyes, shook my head, and took two small black cubes out of my utility belt.

"Go bleed out somewhere else," I said, dropping one of the cubes into each of the arancars' hollow holes.

Their eyes widened as the caja negaccion did their work, sealing them into an inescapable pocket dimension before the cero finished charging.

The threat ended, I slumped down into a seated position against a wall and rummaged through my utility belt. Finding a rice ball, I bit into it and ate ravenously, pausing to mutter the incantation to duplicate what was left of my snack every few bites. Orihime healed herself while I ate.

"They didn't do any permanent damage did they?" I asked when I'd finally eaten my fill.

"I'm all right," said Orihime.

"What happened to me? And where's Sloth?" I asked, only now fully registering her absence.

"I don't know what happened to you," said Orihime. "When you came back, you just collapsed. Sloth and I both tried to heal you. Her powers didn't work, but I was able to sense some kind of foreign reshi sticking to you. It was like your body shut down to protect you from it. Once I rejected the last of it, you woke up."

"I'd just put the flesh bomb in Baragan," I said, trying to get by bearings. "I don't think anyone saw me. What about Sloth?"

"She wanted to stay, but I told her I'd take care of you and that she should finish what you came here to do," said Orihime.

"And those arancars?" I asked. "What was going on with them?"

"Aizen called me up to his throne room. I'm still not sure what he was trying to accomplish. I think the arancars were jealous I got to talk to him."

"They won't be causing any more trouble," I said. "Unless you have spirit energy equivalent to an espada, there's now ay to break out of that pocket dimension."

"There's something else," said Orihime. "Just after Sloth left, I sensed Ichigo, Chad, Uryu, Rukia, and Renji. They were fighting with an espada until a minute ago."

"Sloth has the detonator for the flesh bombs," I said, my mind finally revving back up to its usual level. "If she's doing what I think she's doing, trying to contact her will just put her in danger."

"We should go to them," said Orihime. "I can heal their wounds and we can help them fight until Sloth gets back."

"Sloth can't sense spirit energy," I noted. "She wont' know how to find us. And we can't be sure she'll know it's time to hit the detonator."

"I thought of that. Tsubaki!"

The small rika who represented Orihime's offensive power split off from her hairpins and manifested before her. Looking around, he turned to Orihime.

"Why did you call me? There isn't any enemy to fight!"

"Tsubaki, listen very carefully," said Orihime with a tone of calm, firm authority that caused the rika to pay attention. "Greed and I are going into battle. I need you to stay in this room. When Sloth gets back here, tell her to detonate the bombs in the espadas then lead her to where we are."

The rika looked like he was about to argue. Then he saw the determination in Orihime's eyes, snapped to attention and said, "You can count on me."

"I know I can, Tsubaki. Greed, let's go."

"Right," I said, taking Orihme's offered hand. It took me only a moment to find the others' spirit energy. Then I turned on the spot and aparated, with Orihime side along.

* * *

Orihime and I appeared just outside Zaelaparo's palace where I was immediately sucker punched by a superhumanly strong fist wrapped in the Ultimate Shield.

"You idiot," berated my homunculus self. "Do you have any idea what you've put me through? What in the world made you think you could trust Aizen?"

"Why would you think I trusted Aizen?" asked my Visored self. "You know me better than that."

"Well, for the record, he lied about the Soul King being a threat, and the method he wants to use to make the Oken is an emergency backup plan only meant to be used if the world's about to end and they can't get access to the Soul King, who can just make new Okens without cost."

"Who are these people?" asked Ashido.

"That's Orihime," said Rukia, "the one we're here to rescue. The other one is Greed. It's a little strange, but he and the other Greed sort of split off and merge together."

"Conspiring with the enemy and taking our prisoner out of her cell. I knew you couldn't be trusted."

Noitora'd come up behind so quickly I didn't even notice him until he spoke. Taking advantage of his element of surprise, Noitora pierced his left hand through my back and out the front of my visored self's chest. He took part of my heart, a good chunk of lung, and several vertebrae from my spine with him. Visored me collapsed to the ground as Noitora pulled his hand back out.

Orihime threw herself over my collapsed body, putting a triangular shield between us and Noitora. Once so secured, she snapped her oval shaped healing shield in place over me.

"My name is Noitora Gilga," the tall, thin espada introduced himself. Then he stuck out his tongue revealing the number five tattooed on it.

"You don't introduce yourself after a sneak attack," said Ichigo. Then turning briefly to Nel and her brothers, he added, "That was a sneak attack. This isn't. Bankai!"

Ichigo and Renji activated their bankais, Rukia nd Ashido released shikai. Chad summoned the power of his arms. Uryu drew his bow. Sloth and my homunculus selves too out our combat potions only to have them shot out of our hands by a bala from an unexpected direction and spill out onto the sand.

"We have unfinished business," said the arancar I knew from our after action reports was named Tesla, the boar arancar that Sloth and I had fought in the world of the living. "This time, I'm not letting you enhance your strength and speed with those potions."

"We've got more than enough of both to finish you off," said Sloth, using hirenkyaku to get behind Tesla and swing a roundhouse kick at his head.

Tesla ducked under Sloth's kick. I rushed in with hirenkyaku of my own, Uryu having returned my bangle after our fight with Zaelaparo, and aimed a punch at his chest. He dodged that with trivial ease as well and brought his sword down on my arm.

The shield spells in my sleeve activated and prevented Tesla from cutting off my arm like he had in the world of the living. Looking me in the eye, Tesla started to charge a cero only to have it blow up in his face when Sloth struck the unstable ball of energy with a quincy arrow.

Tesla soinidoed backward to get some distance, casually dodging the dozen arrows sent after him. Then he released his zanpakto. His enormous, boar-like resureccion form still bore the scars of our last battle. His nose was misshapen and mangled, and his right arm was attached with a number of large stitches and staples. He moved it only gingerly, obviously favoring that side.

"Without your potions, you're much slower than you were in the world of the living," observed Tesla with glee.

That wasn't exactly true. Both Sloth and I had an order of magnitude more strength and speed than the toughest arancar thanks to our red stones. The quincy bangles we wore let us use hirenkyaku to resolve the problem of the ground under our feet not providing enough traction to take advantage of that raw speed. The problem was, without either our souls or our potions, we were limited to human reaction times.

"Follow my lead," I said to Sloth.

She nodded in reply.

I rushed Tesla, throwing as many punches and kicks as I could as fast as I could. I ignored defense entirely, counting on my enhanced uniform to keep me safe from any counterattacks I wouldn't be able to see coming anyway. Sloth was in the melee a second after me.

"So, I have a question," said Pesche from the sidelines of our fight with Tesla. "Why don't you just do what you did to Zaelaparo?"

"I hit Zaelaparo while he was distracted," I explained as Tesla dodged every punch and kick Sloth and I threw at him. "On top of that, it only works on the really human looking arancars. Does pig face here look human to you?"

A flare of green light came from Sloth's cape as the defensive spells laid on it neutralized a solid punch from Tesla.

"So you're not just toying with him?" Pesche confirmed.

"We're trying as hard as we can to kill him," said Sloth. "You want to help?"

"I'm glad you asked," said Pesche. "You'd be lost without me. Don't worry. I'll stop him dead in his tracks with my Infinite Slick."

Pesche spit a slippery fluid on the ground under Tesla's feet. Sloth and I were both in the air using hirenkyaku, and so were unaffected. Tesla slipped on the puddle and lost his balance. It wasn't clear which of the two dozen hits Sloth and I connected with before his corpse hit the ground actually killed Tesla, but based on the fight so far, he saw every one of them coming. There was just nothing he could do about it.

"Tesla!" called out Noitora. Ichigo was in bankai wearing his mask and slashed at Noitora's back while he was distracted. The slash produced a shower of sparks, but not a single drop of blood. Noitora rushed at me with a boom of soinido and split my head in two with his massive blade.

Visored me came around to see my homunculus self on the ground with his head bisected, Sloth laying next to him decapitated, Rukia, Renji, and Ashido down and bleeding, and Noitora fighting Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad at the same time.

"I'm good. Heal the others," I said as I pulled my mask on and let my high speed regeneration take care of any remaining wounds. "Bankai, Hofuku no Rensa! Weave, Araña!"

I took a dose of my enhancement potion optimized for this form then rushed to join the melee. Noitora swung his oddly shaped scythe down at me, but with my enhanced reflexes, I got my chain up to block. he fifth espada had more spirit energy behind his attack than I had behind my defense, and his blade began to cut through the link in my chain it was in contact with.

With his weapon tied up for a split second, Chad and Ichigo saw openings. Disks of blue spirit energy formed at the fingertips of Chad's left hand while black energy poured off Ichigo's blade. Chad's punch landed in Noitora's stomach while Ichigo's blade struck his back. At the same instant, Chad called out, "La Muerte," and Ichigo roared, "Getsuga Tensho!"

"Get back!" ordered Uryu.

The three of us in close combat leapt back, though I left a loop of chain around Noitora's weapon. Uryu had planted five seele schneiders around Noitora. With Chad, Ichigo, and I out of the way, Uryu poured the liquid reshi from one of his silver ginto tubes onto the hilt of the nearest seele schneider, saying, "Springer." A glowing blue pentagon of light formed, defined by the seele schneiders Uryu had planted, compressed inward on Noitora, then exploded.

When the dust cleared, Noitora's white clothes were shredded, including his eyepatch that concealed both his mask fragments and the hollow hole straight through his head. Noitora's body didn't have a scratch on it. All that and we hadn't gotten through his hiero.

"Good job with the setup, Uryu," called out Pesche. "Now it's time for us to finish him off."

Pesche was standing on Dondachaka's back. Dondachaka had gotten a spiked metal club from somewhere and Pesche was brandishing a sword hilt with a glowing blue energy blade. Dondachaka's mouth was open and something resembling the barrel of a canon was sticking out.

"Ever since you attacked us and banished us from Las Noches, we've continued to train and improve our abilities," declared Pesche. "Your mistake was dismissing us as an enemy you've defeated before. Now, that this! Cero Sincretico!"

Pesche and Dondachaka each charged a cero fo a different color. The two blasts twisted and swirled together, launching at Noitora as a single Cero. Noitora was too stunned from Uryu's Springer to dodge and took the powerful combination attack head on.

This time when the smoke cleared, the fifth espada was sporting mild burns, bruises, and scratches all over his body. The damage was largely superficial, but the fact that their combined cero had broken his skin in places meant I had a way around his hiero. I flash stepped in and drove my fangs into Noitora's shoulder, injecting venom through the small openings that had been made in his skin.

Noitora punched me in the face hard enough to shatter my mask, break my goggles, and toss me ten feet away onto my back. Then he rushed at Pesche, swinging his scythe at him. I added links to the loop of chain I'd left around Noitora's scythe until the weapon more resembled a mace. Then I removed layers as Noitora hit Pesche with it, cushioning the blow as best I could. It was still a solid hit that sent the insect masked arancar flying.

Nel screamed and I felt a spike of spiritual pressure from her position. A small explosion accompanied Nel transforming from a small child into a tall, long legged, large breasted woman. Her green robe tore strategically, forming a short skirt and a tiny, high necked top. Her short blue green hair had grown out and waved over the number three tattooed on her back. The round, cracked skull mask took on a more angular appearance along with a pair of curling horns.

With a burst of soinido so fast it looked like teleportation, she grabbed Dondachaka and Pesche, bringing them both to where Orihime was treating the wounded. Looking down at the two fondly, she grasped a sword and said, "You've both protected me for so long. Now it's my turn to protect you."

"Protect them?" demanded Noitora. "You should think more about protecting yourself, Nelliel!"

Noitora licked the blood off one of his arms then charged a cero at the tip of his tongue. Nel stood there and stared Noitora down. When the energy released, Noitora called out, "Gran Ray Cero!"

Nel held up a hand, stopped the blast in midair, then opened her mouth and drew it in. Noitora realized a split second too late what was coming when Nel vomited the cero right back at him with more force than it had when she swallowed. Noitora dodged most of the blast but still had his left arm blown clean off.

"I forgot," said Noitora, gripping his weapon and breathing hard. "Cero doble was your specialty."

"This fight is over, beast," said Nel contemptuously. "You can't beat me. Leave now and keep your life."

"Over?" demanded Noitora. "Like I told you back then, a fight isn't over until one side is dead. Now, Pray Santa Teresa!"

In a flash, Noitora entered his resureccion form. He was still humanoid for the most part, except that he had four arms. His mask fragments had expanded into a kind of horned helmet and each hand held a long, curved scythe of more conventional design. As usual, entering resureccion had completely healed him.

Noitora rushed at Nel, swinging his scythes. She blocked his attacks with her sword, but was being forced back. A psychotic grin was on Noitora's face as he attacked contrasting with Nel's cold, emotionless expression.

"You've been gone a long time, Nelliel," said Noitora. "Did you really think the rankings of the espada were the same as when you left? That number on your back doesn't mean a thing anymore!"

My mask had regenerated itself and I was up on the eight legs of my spider bodied resureccion form. In the middle of a high speed melee like this, I didn't dare try a spell that could miss and hit Nel. Instead, I swung Hofuku no Rensa low, removing any links that might entangle Nel's feet and wrapping Noitora's legs. Gripping my chain with both hands, I yanked as hard as my enhanced strength would allow, pulling Noitora off his feet.

Nel took the opportunity to leap back a few paces while Ichigo, Uryu, an Chad fired ranged attacks at the toppled Noitora. The attacks amounted to little more than a distraction to the fifth espada. He cut himself free of my chains and was back on his feet none the worse for wear.

"I didn't want to do this so soon after regaining this form," said Nel. Raising her sword in front of her, she said, "Praize, Gamuza."

In resureccion form, Nel's lower body had been replaced with the brown furred, four legged body of a large mountain goat. A double sided lance appeared in Nel's hand and she threw it at Noitora, calling out, "Lanzador Verde!" Noitora tried to block with his scythes, but Nel's lance punched right through, shattering all four blades and striking his shoulder with enough force to throw him backward.

Materializing another lance, Nel said, "Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you." As she thrust her lance forward, Nel suddenly reverted to her child form with a popping sound. She face planted into the ground, looking at her hands and asking, "Why is Nel small again?"

Noitora laughed and went to punt Nel, but Ichigo swept her up as he flash stepped past Noitora.

"Oh please," said Noitora. "All of you working together could barely keep up with me before I entered my release state. Without Nelliel to save you, none of you stand a chance against me." Flicking his wrists, four new scythes appeared to replace the ones Nel destroyed.

"Expecto patrounum!" I called out, conjuring a dog made of silvery light.

"What's this?" asked Noitora. "Some new attack?"

"No, it's to protect the rest of us from the real attack," I said as the chain links at Noitora's feet turned into dementors. I dropped out of resureccion form and removed my mask as Noitora fell to his knees. "I didn't want to risk summoning them where their aura might effect someone else, but I've been keeping an eye out for openings."

"What are those things?" asked Nel.

"They're called dementors," I explained. "Amortal beings that feed on positive emotions. They gradually drain away your capacity for happiness and your will to live. They're intelligent, and can avoid feeding on people if they like, but it seemed prudent to have the patronus out for protection in case they got confused who they were supposed to be feeding on."

"What's gonna happen to him?" asked Ichigo as Noitora curled up in the fetal position on the ground.

"The effects of dementor exposure are temporary," I said. "They wear off quicker if he effected eats some chocolate. Long term exposure can break a person completely, of course."

What was to become of Noitora became a moot point when we heard a muffled explosion from inside his chest and smoke began pouring out of his nostrils. Sloth had detonated the flesh bombs inside the espada. Noitora was dead. I resealed and sheathed Tsumi no Rensa. My patronus flickered out with the disappearance of the dementors.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Keeping the party together means we get to watch everyone contribute something to taking down the enemy. Even if they don't have the strength to deal with an espada on their own, being a distraction so someone who can do the job means a lot.


	54. Chapter 62: The Final Battle of Hueco Mu

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 62) The Final Battle of Hueco Mundo  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Thanks to Orihme's healing abilities, Rukia, Renji, and Ashido, along with Sloth's and my homunculus selves were fully healed when several gargatna opened up inside the domed city of Las Noches. Byakuya and Hanataro arrived through one garganta. The captain and lieutenant of squads four, eleven, and twelve each arrived through separate gargantas.

Impossibly, Ulquiora, the fourth espada appeared in our midst in a flash of soinido. He was in his resureccion form. His half helmet mask was now a symmetrical horned helmet. His fingers now ended in sharpened claws, and his clothes had changed into an ankle length robe. Large black bat wings extended from Ulquiora's back.

I only saw him for a moment. Ulquiora grabbed Orihime and vanished in another burst of soinido. Even Ichigo, who was still in his bankai state, could only slash the air where Ulquiora had been a split second too late. A moment later,I heard Aizen's voice projected remotely using a kido spell.

"Can you hear me, my daring intruders? I commend you for coming this far and defeating my espadas. As a reward, I will tell you this much. We are proceeding with our plans to invade the world of the living.

"Orihime Inue is being held in the fifth tower. If you want to effect her rescue, feel free to come and get her. She is no longer of any use to me. Her powers are indeed amazing. Her ability to reject all forms of phenomenon is beyond anything the human race has ever demonstrated.

"The leaders of the Soul Society are not fools. They have understood the importance of that power from the beginning. That's why her capture was a threat to them. It helps to explain their response to her. They were afraid. They immediately took steps to protect not the world of the living, but the Soul Society itself. Her very presence caused them to mobilize. She became the bait to lure in the Soul Society's potential new military strength, the ryoka, which included the substitute soul reaper and his friends.

"If you were wondering about the fate of the four captains who came to assist the intruders, don't worry. I was able to imprison them here in Hueco Mundo."

As he said that, all four gargantas slammed shut. Aizen paused a moment to let that sink in, then continued.

"The strength of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads is really quite simple when you break it down. The thirteen captains all possess enough power to be able to stand as a military force of their own, but now, however, three of them have defected and four of them are imprisoned. If you do the math, you could say that the military power of the Soul Society has been cut in half. It makes our job easy.

"We will destroy Karakura Town, create the Oken, and overthrow the Soul Society. When all of this is done, I shall take each of you on at my leisure."

Aizen's voice fell silent.

"That guy sure loves to hear himself talk, doesn't he?" said Kenpachi.

"The genuinely amusing part is that he actually thinks our being here is to his advantage," said Mayuri giggling to himself.

"Isn't it?" asked Ichigo confused.

"Do you recall why the Thirteen Court Guard Squads were unable to capture Soske Aizen the day he defected?" asked Captain Unohana mildly.

"Negaccion," said the two mes at the same time.

"Precisely," said Byuakuya. "When Aizen arrives in Karakura Town, he will face every fighter except for us that can fight under captain level spiritual pressure. We will be waiting here for the traitors if they attempt to retreat again."

"Wait a minute," said Chad. "The spiritual pressure of all those captains would crush the people living there."

"They moved Karakura Town to the Soul Society and replaced it with a duplicate," explained my visored self. "The Rukon Militia's been monitoring the construction of the copy. I have my people watching over the real Karakura Town while the captains fight it out in the fake."

"Then we'll have to hope that's enough," said Ichigo. "You guys do whatever you have to do to get ready for the fight with Aizen. We're going to finish what we came here to do, rescue Orihime."

"Nel, Pesche, Dondachaka," said Sloth. "I know you're all still tired from our fight with Noitora. We're going to go bring Orihime back. It won't be long. Please wait here for us to get back. Don't worry. These soul reapers are our friends. They won't hurt you." Sloth gave the four captains a stern look, silently daring them to contradict her.

"You don't have to worry," said Unohana. "Our mission here is to prevent Soske Aizen from retreating to Hueco Mundo. Getting into unnecessary fights would run counter to that mission."

"Greed," said homunculus me. "Sloth and I brought mandrakes. A lot of us have broken goggles from our last fight. Put a silencing spell on us before you use your transportation kido and we might not need to fight Ulquiora."

"I'll cast it on Orihime as soon as we arrive," said Visored me nodding as he drew his wand. After pointing at each member of our party in turn, silently casting the spell, I raised my wand above my head. Strips of white cloth unfurled from the tip and swirled around us in a dome. When the cloth vanished, we were in the fifth tower with Ulquiora and Orihime.

Visored me cast the silencing spell while Sloth and homunculus me pulled out our mandrakes. Ulquiora anticipated the move and destroyed both mandrakes before they left their pots with a pair of balas. After eliminating the mandrakes, Ulquiora wasn't making any aggressive moves. His lips were moving, so I assumed he was getting some pre-fight taunting in.

Ulquiora should be dead and visored me knew it. Taking advantage of this lull, I used legelimency. His emotional control still a wreck since Sloth resurrected him, I was able to slice through his occlumency barriers with trivial ease.

My flesh bomb had done its job. Ulquiora had been taken completely by surprise and his organs were destroyed by the explosion contained and amplified by his hiero. Unlike Noitora and the other espada, Ulquiora had a powerful level of high speed regeneration. It couldn't regrow his destroyed organs, but it kept him functional enough to jump out a window. Once outside the dome of Las Noches, where the energy form his release wouldn't destroy the fortress, he entered his resureccion form. Releasing his zanpakto healed his wounds and left him more than ready to fight.

Ulquiora finished talking, then promptly rushed at Ichigo. Ichigo's black blade clashed with the arancar's claws, just barely getting the weapon up in time to keep his head from being torn off. Countering with a black getsuga tenso, Ichigo did no damage.

Visored me cast a quick finite encantum spell on the area to remove the silencing charms, then put on my mask and began the chant to build up power for a high level kido. Rukia joined me, chanting a different spell. Renji released his bankai.

Homunculus me, Sloth, and Chad rushed in to engage Ulquiora hand to hand with Ichigo while Uryu fired arrows past us. Without an enhancement potion, Sloth and I were having the same problem we had against Tesla. We were an order of magnitude stronger and faster than Ulquiora, but his reaction time was so far ahead of ours, it almost didn't matter.

Ulquiora caught one of my punches, hen used me as a club to bat Chad through a heavy stone support column before using my body as a shield against one of Ichigo's getsugas. He no doubt expected Ichigo's attack to take me out, but the shield spells built into my uniform activated and negated the blast. I grabbed the wrist of the hand Ulquiora was holding me with and delivered a lick to his shoulder that ended up breaking off his entire arm.

Ulquiora backed away form the melee to regenerate his arm, but that coincided with Rukia and visored me finishing our chants. The arancar was hit from three directions at once. Once by a powerful crimson blast from the mouth of Renji's bankai, once by an amped up bolt of lightning from Rukia,and once from a dragon shaped blast of fire from me.

The three blasts had blown the roof of this tower and raised an obscuring cloud of smoke around Ulquiora. The Mad Eyes in our sockets let my and Sloth's homunculus selves see through the cloud. We rocketed in at the dazed arancar, taking advantage of the fact that we had no spirit energy for him to sense. Unfortunately, the enchanted armor we were wearing could be sensed and Ulquiora blasted us both with a green cero that launched us both off the roof of this tower and into the base of a neighboring tower, which promptly collapsed on top of us.

Ulquiora's cero had cleared away the dust and revealed him to be whole and unharmed. Any damage our combination attack had done was regenerated just as fast as his severed arm had been. The arancar tried to rush Rukia and my visored self, but Renji interposed his bankai in the way giving Ichigo time to reengage with Ulquiora.

Ichigo pulled on his mask, wrapped a getsuga around his blade and attacked Ulquiora in close. By using his getsuga that way, his sword swings all had the power of a getsuga behind them. It wasn't enough to do even superficial damage to Ulquiora who pressed his attack until he'd broken Ichigo's mask in half.

I released my bankai and summoned a patronus. That was as far as I got before Ulquiora disengaged with Ichigo, accepting a quickly healed slash to the back as a bargain price, soinidoed to me, and tore out my throat. Undeterred, I summoned half a dozen dementors including one directly between Ulquiora and myself.

The fourth espada retreated to the sky as my high speed regeneration mended my throat. Ichigo pursued Ulquiora, and the later led him through the top of the dome of Las Noches, blowing a small hole ahead of them with a bala.

"Before we came to Hueco Mundo, the other Greed gave me, Chad,and Ichigo each a bakoto," said Uryu, drawing the tuning fork shaped short sword from beneath his cape. "The bakoto he handed out had the power to suppress soul reaper abilities in everyone but their wielder. After Rukia and Renji showed up, none of us wanted to sue them and risk leaving them powerless. If Ichigo's smart, he's using his now that he and Ulquiora are a distance away."

"What are you saying?" asked Renji.

Uryu channeled his spirit energy into the bakoto, causing it to dig tentacles into his left arm and cover them with black armored scales. Renji's and my bankais ended and our swords returned to their sealed states.

"Hollow and quincy powers aren't effected by the bakoto," said Uryu, forming a glowing blue disk of spirit energy under his feet. "If you don't have those, you should stay behind."

I sheathed Tsumi no Rensa and drew my bakoto. It dug its tentacles into my right arm and layered black scales over it as I stepped onto the platform with Uryu.

"Orihime," said Rukia, "I'll finish healing chad. You go with the others."

"Right," said Orihime, nodding and hopping onto the platform with us.

As Uryu raised the platform to take us to Ichigo, I said, "Weave, Araña," and released into my spider-centaur full hollow form.

The clash of spiritual pressures above us was titanic compared with what had been happening under the dome. Between Ichigo using his bakoto and Ulquiora no longer needing to worry about collateral damage, this was going to be a whole new fight. Uryu got us above the dome and we rushed toward the spirit energy we were sensing.

Ulquiora had transformed again. His mask was now entirely gone. He was naked with thick black fur covering his arms and lower body. Large, pointed ears now complimented his jet black wings, giving him an even more bat-like appearance. A thin tail with a small tuft of black fur on the end was wrapped around Ichigo's throat.

The bakoto I'd given Ichigo was nowhere to be seen. He was still in bankai, but his coat was shredded down to almost a single sleave, indicating he was almost out of spirit energy. He wasn't wearing his mask and only the fact that he still held his sword in a death grip told me he was still consious.

Ulquiora glanced at us, lifted Ichigo's chain mail vest, then fired a black cero through Ichigo's chest. Dropping Ichigo as though he were a corpse, Ulquiora had failed to notice that Ichigo's sword was still in its bankai state. Horrifically injured as he was, Ichigo wasn't dead.

Orihime rushed to Ichigo's side, summoning the rika who controlled her healing powers. When Ulquiora tried to get in her way, I stabbed him through the stomach with the green energy blade projected from the mouth of the dragon shaped gauntlet of my bakoto. Uryu got above Ulquira and rained hundreds of blue arrows down on the espada, who brought his wings up to form a shield.

Ulquiora grabbed my right arm and tore it off at the shoulder. The bakoto quickly drained the severed arm to nothing and reverted to its tuning fork form, which Ulquiora tossed aside. I backed out of melee range using hirenkyaku with Uryu firing his maximum 1200 arrows at once at Ulquiora to cover my withdrawal. While Ulquiora stood in the dust kicked up by Uryu's arrows, I charged a crimson cero in my left hand. By the time my arm finished regenerating, the cero discharged.

Healing Ichigo was going slowly. My cero hadn't done a thing to the arancar and even with his soul being overclocked by the bakoto, Uryu's arrows weren't piercing Ulquiora's wings.

Turning away from me, Ulquiora rushed Uryu with a burst of soinido and punched the quincy through one of the towers situated on top of the dome. Eiher that put enough distance between us that I was out of range of Uryu's bakoto, or Ulquiora had just ripped Uryu's arm off like he had mine. Whichever the case, my soul reaper powers were back. I silently summoned my own bakoto and again let the parasitic weapon dig into the flesh of my right arm.

Ulquiora was rocketing away from the tower he'd smashed Uryu through and straight toward me. I held my bakoto clad right arm toward Ulquiora and fed every drop of spirit energy I could muster into the bakoto. Green light poured from the eye holes in my hollow mask as the weapon greedily drank up my spirit energy. In return for my life, a blast of green energy stronger than anything I could have managed on my own fired directly at the charging espada.

In a single fluent motion, Ulquiora summoned a lance of green light and hurled it at my blast. The two attacks met in a massive explosion between us. My blast had more power, so the resulting explosion enveloped Ulquiora who barely had time to curl his wings around himself protectively before vanishing amid the light.

Then the pain came. I screamed as the bakoto on my arm which had already drained every drop of my spirit energy sucked on the dray arteries, decomposing the spirit particles that made up my body. My mask shattered and my resureccion broke down, reverting me to my humanoid form. It was starting to break down the rest of my body when Uryu arrived at my side. Blood pouring from the stump where his left arm used to be, he held a seele schneider in his right hand and used the glowing blue energy blade to sever the bakoto's core from the tendrils dug into my flesh.

"Don't you die on me," said Uryu. "I am not going to be the one to explain to Sloth that you had to sacrifice yourself because we couldn't handle one arancar she already killed."

I sat up and took a self assessment. I was so drained of spirit energy, I wouldn't even be able to levitate a feather. My right arm was hanging useless at my side, with bits of the destroyed bakoto woven through my flesh and mostly plugging up the bleeding.

"Give me your arm," I said, taking a bottle of diatiny from my utility belt with my left hand and splashing it on the stump of Uryu's left arm. It stopped the bleeding. I was digging through my belt for an injector of Mayuri's flesh supplement that I could use to regrow Uryu's arm completely when the explosion finally faded and we saw Ulquiora wasn't dead.

The arancar's wings and tail were gone, his ears had been burned to half their previous length, and all four of his limbs had been reduced to stumps, but he was alive. Worse, his high speed regeneration restored every inch of destroyed flesh in seconds.

"You are full of surprises," said Ulquiora as he landed near Uryu and I. "If I'd taken even a moment longer with my lance, that attack of ours would have killed me. But it looks as though you're spent. Are there any last tricks in that utility belt of yours?"

"Just one," I said, closing my fist around a small cube in my pouch. I threw the small black cube at Ulquiora's hollow hole. A caja negaccion wouldn't hold an espada permanently, but it would give us time to withdraw, rearm, and recuperate. Ulquiora caught the device and crushed it to powder before it was anywhere near him.

Not far away, Orihime was in a sobbing fit, calling out for Ichigo as though doing so might heal him faster. The hole in Ichigo's chest still hadn't closed, but I could see him start to move.

Uryu was focused on Ulquiora, holding his seele schneider in a defensive pose and missed Ichigo's transformation. Ichigo's hair grew to ankle length in seconds and cascaded down his back. His skin turned chalky white and tufts of fur appeared at his wrists. A new mask covered his face, with vertical black markings and a pair of forward facing horns. His hands and feet were clawed and the hole in his chest smoothed out into a proper hollow hole.

Ichigo got to his feet and roared. Holding out a hand, his zanpakto flew to him. The air pressure from a practice swing tore chunks of stone out of the dome and sent Orihime flying backward.

Ulquiora charged a black cero which Ichigo countered with a red cero of his own from between his horns. The blasts neutralized eachotther perfectly. Ichigo soinidoed behind Ulquiora and tore the arancar's arm off.

After getting some distance and regenerating his arm, Ulquiora created another green energy lance and hurled it at Ichigo's head. Ichigo bent his neck slightly and let the attack fly past him. When it hit the ground some distance from Las Noches, it exploded with the force of a small nuclear bomb. I glanced down at my mangled right arm, contemplating the fact that the bakoto had been able to draw enough energy out of me to overwhelm that attack.

Ulquiora created another lance. Ichigo soinidoed in close, grabbed the tip, and muffle the atom bomb level explosion in the palm of his hand before slashing across Ulquiora's body diagonally with the zanpakto he held in his other hand. After Ulquiora fell to the ground, Ichigo stood over him, charged up another red cero between his horns, and fired it straight down.

Orihime protected herself, Uryu, and I from the blast with her shield. We could only hope none of our friends was directly below.

When the dust cleared, Ichigo was holding the top half of Ulquiora by his wing. The arancar had been bisected by the cero along the deep gash Ichigo had carved across Ulquiora's body. Ichigo contemptuously tossed Ulquiora down near Uryu, Orihime, and I.

Ichigo walked to where Ulquiora's body laid and adjusted his grip on his zanpakto, preparing to execute Ulquiora. Uryu grabbed Ichigo's hand.

"Stop, Ichigo," said Uryu. "It's over. You've won the battle. It's true that he was our enemy, but there's no need to mutilate his body. You've won, Ichigo. Let it go."

"Uryu, get back!" I yelled. "He's not in control right now!"

"Didn't you hear me?" demanded Uryu. "You've won! You have to stop now! If you go through with this, you will not be human anymore! You have to stop now, Ichigo!"

Uryu's attempt to get through to Ichigo failed. The mass of undefined instincts piloting his body, neither Ichigo nor his inner hollow, identified Uryu as a threat and stabbed him in the stomach with his zanpakto. Uryu's vest kept it from penetrating, but he still had ribs and organs crushed by the force of the impact. Dropping his sword, Ichigo began charging another cero between his horns. Orihime begged him to stop to no avail.

Ulquiora made good use of the distraction. He had partially regenerated, summoned a lance and soinidoed behind Ichigo. In a desperate, all or nothing attack, he severed one of Ichigo's horns.

That destabilized Ichigo's cero which blew up in his face and shattered his mask. Ichigo collapsed and reverted to human form. His injuries were fully regenerated and from how his chain mail vest laid, his hollow hole had closed.

Ichigo woke with a start and quickly took inventory, surprised to find the hole in his chest healed. Then he noticed Uryu's condition and his expression turned to one of horror.

"I see you finally snapped out of it," Uryu managed haltingly.

"Am I the one responsible for that wound?" asked Ichigo, his eyes wide.

"You're a hard guy to kill," said Ulquiora, drawing everyone's attention back to the fact that the arancar was on his feet again.

It would be more appropriate to say he was on one foot. Ulquiora's high speed regeneration had stopped after growing one full leg and the beginnings of a skeleton of the other, He was too drained of spirit energy to finish the job, and the organs in the lower half of his body would have to be replaced by conventional medical techniques since high speed regeneration didn't work on internal organs.

Despie all that, he still had the strength to soinido to Uryu and grab Ichigo's sword from where he dropped it. He tossed the sword to Ichigo and demanded they finish their battle, summoning a new green energy lance for himself.

I injected Uryu with the flesh supplements to heal the damage to his organs and regenerate his severed arm. It was all I could think of to do to contribute while Ichigo and Ulquiora prepared to face off again. Then I heard something incredibly stupid from Ichigo.

"Am I also the one responsible for cutting off your left arm and leg? If that's what happened, then you should cut off my left arm and leg."

Even Ulquiora looked at him like he was an idiot, so shocked that his energy lance dispersed.

"The entity fighting you earlier was a hollowfied being with no consciousness," explained Ichigo. "It was not really me. If we're going to settle this fight, I have to be in the same condition as you or we won't be evenly matched."

"Hold on, Ichigo," said Uryu. "Are you crazy? You can't be serious about this! It's suicidal!"

"Is that it?" I asked. "You lost control again and you want to die? We'll get this under control again just like we did the last time!"

"I'm fine with it," said Ulquiora, taking a step toward Ichigo.

That was as far as he got before his one remaining wing started dissolving.

"So, this is how it ends," mused Ulquiora. "Kill me, Ichigo. You don't have much time left. I no longer have the strength to even walk. If you don't take this opportunity now, our duel will remain unsettled forever."

"I can't do it," said Ichigo, barely keeping himself together.

"What are you saying?" demanded Ulquiora.

"I don't want to... not like this. It's wrong. This is not the way I want to defeat you!"

I walked up to the dying arancar, drew my zanpakto awkwardly with my left hand, and cut off his head. With his body practically falling apart, even my blade with no spirit energy behind it had no difficulty doing the job.

"Why did you do that?" asked Ichigo near tears.

"How could you not?" I asked gently. "Couldn't you hear him begging for his life?"

"Begging for his life?" asked Ichigo confuse. "You killed him!"

"Ichigo Kurosaki, are you a soul reaper or not?" I demanded sharply.

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Ichigo.

"What happens to a hollow that is killed by a zanpakto?" I asked, holding mine up to serve as a visual aid. "How is dying to a soul reaper's zanpakto different from dying to, say, a cero?"

"That's right," said Ichigo collapsing to his knees, utterly exhausted. "Hollows purified by a zanpakto move on to the Soul Society."

"Now, let's make sure everyone below is alright, shall we?" I suggested.

* * *

The captains had cleared the area of any of the stronger hollows or arancars left after the espada had been eliminated. The weaker hollows had fled. True to their word, they had not harmed Nel, Pesche, or Dondachaka.

Rukia, Renji, and Chad had made it back down from the tower to link back up with the captains. Magical girl Sloth had dug my and Sloth's homunculus selves out from under the rubble of the building that had fallen on us. Ichigo, Orihime, and visored me rode Uryu's platform down to link up with the others.

"What's that on your arm?" asked the tall, grey haired Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu of squad four when she was looking over my injuries.

"It's a damaged bakoto," I said. "I've been stockpiling a lot of dangerous, illegal weapons for the fight with Aizen."

"Isn't that the same weapon Shuske Amagai used against Head Captain Yamamoto?" asked Captain Unohana.

"That's right," I said. "It should be able to shut down Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu and eliminate his illusions. It neutralizes all soul reaper powers in range."

"Then even if we could get you to the battle over Karakura Town with it, it would be useless," noted Unohana. "It would end Aizen's illusions, but leave our forces completely defenseless against his arancars."

"We can get them to the battle," said Mayuri. "After going over the materials in the eight arancars's labs, I found a device I can use to open and close the garganta."

"And if you close it while we're partway through, we're lost forever," added visored me, who'd assimilated all of Zaelaparo's notes long before the rescue party arrived.

"I assume this means we're going to see this peculiar gate of yours first hand," said Mayuri. "I've been looking forward to the opportunity to examine it up close."

"If I have anything to say about it, you'll never get that chance," said homunculus me. "Besides, we have more than just the two options."

"What are you talking about?" asked Ichigo.

"Nel," said homunculus me to the little arancar, "if your full powers were restored, you could open us a garganta, couldn't you?"

"Nel could," she acknowledged. "But Nel doesn't know how she turned back big again."

"Orihime's powers can heal things ordinary healing abilities can't," said homunculus me. "If you want her to, I'm sure she can undo the damage Noitora and Zaelaparo did to you that forced you into this form in the first place. If you want to stay like this, that's fine too. There are still other ways for us to get to Karakura Town."

"Why would Nel want to stay small?" she asked. "Of course Nel will help you get home. You'll come and visit Nel, right?"

"Of course we will," said Orihime. "You're our friend."

Orihime's oval shaped healing shield covered the scar on Nel's face and the crack in her mask. The crack closed and the scar faded. When both were fully restored another small explosion accompanied Nel returning to her adult form.

Nel threw her arms around Orihime saying, "Thank you! Thank you so much! You promise you'll visit?"

"N...Nel-" choked Orihime who was being crushed by the arancar who didn't know her own strength.

Sloth and I used the red stone fueled strength of our homunculus bodies to pry Nel off Orihime before she did any permanent damage. Captain Unohana restored Ichigo's spirit energy and Nel opened the garganta As Ichigo, Chad, Uryu, and Orihime entered the garganta, Ichigo paused and looked back.

"Are the rest of you coming?" he asked.

"The captains and lieutenants have been ordered to guard Hueco Mundo," said Renji.

"We've got another way back to Karakura Town that might beat you there," said visored me.

"I've seen Aizen's shikai," said Rukia. "If he does retreat to Hueco Mundo, try to destroy his zanpakto before he goes so those of us here won't have to rely on Captain Kurosuchi alone. Now, go!"

* * *

Author's comments:  
The stress Ichigo was under during this battle is extreme. He was seeing his friends litterally ripped limb from limb by a monster he couldn't hurt, then he was the monster who ended up hurting one of his friends. Someone who understands what he's been going through talking him down and making sure his friends are all okay by the time he comes to his senses makes recovering emotionally after the battle a lot easier.


	55. Chapter 63: Aizen's Rise and Fall

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 63) Aizen's Rise and Fall  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Once the others had gone, the Sloths and the mes healed up, repaired our equipment, and compared notes silently through the telepathic relay Sloth's Soul Gem allowed. Sloth had succeeded in her mission. Her Soul Gem's similarity to the hogyoku meant she could track its emissions the same way she tracked a witch. Once she found Aizen's hogyoku, she switched it with a fake, charged with her own magic so Aizen wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

While we traded information, the two mes switched clothes. The white, amestrian inspired uniform turned black as the fabric reacted to my spirit energy. Once back in the world of the living, homunculus me would be immortal and have no need for armor.

"How exactly are you planning on getting to the world of the living?" asked Mayuri as we finished packing up.

"We'll be using the same garganta Aizen used," said visored me as he donned his mask. "Weave, Araña."

In my resureccion form, the skirting of my uniform laid across the back of my arachnid abdomen like a saddle blanket, providing some protection for that otherwise vulnerable area. After covering ourselves with spirit energy concealing invisibility cloaks, we gathered close together so visored me could cast the hour reversal charm and return us to before Aizen left Hueco Mundo.

We arrived in Aizen's throne room, with Aizen, Gin, and Tosen all gathered. None of them seemed to have noticed us. We had to wait through Aizen's speech again while the garganta was open so we could follow behind the three traitor captains without needing to form our own, highly visible path of spirit energy as we traversed the garganta.

In the sky above Karakura Town, all of the remaining captains and lieutenants were waiting. Aizen wasn't fooled by the replica of Karakura Town, noting that after he finished killing the forces gathered here he'd just go to the Soul Society, find the real Karakura Town, and make the Oken there. Then Aizen called for Stark and Baragan.

A single garganta opened, allowing Baragan and his fraccion entry. Stark had honored his end of our deal and had abandoned Aizen.

"Looks like our intruders took out one more espada than we thought, Lord Aizen," noted Gin in a good natured tone.

"No matter," said Aizen calmly. "Baragan and his fraccion will be more than enough to serve our purposes.:

Hidden by our invisibility cloaks, the four of us positioned ourselves behind the three traitor captains. Sloth telepathically coordinated us so no one would move early and inadvertently put our enemies on guard for the others. While we were getting into position, Yamamoto made his move.

Releasing his shikai, Yamamoto raised a wall of Ryu Jin Jaka's flames around Aizen, Gin, and Tosen, incidentally containing the mes and Sloths at the same time. It wasn't a bad plan. The wall of flame would break Aizen's line of sight and keep him from supporting the arancars with his illusions. Yamamoto sealed off a large area in case Aizen wasn't precisely where he thought he was.

"No one move," boomed Vaccine's voice over our telepathic relay.

"Who's that?" asked Sloth. Given the mind link which Sloth was academic.

"That's Vaccine," I thought. "He's Yhwach's horcrux and the embodiment of my quincy powers. What do you mean don't move?"

"Look at the traitors," advised Vaccine. "They aren't moving from where they were standing when the flames went up. Greed, reach out with your senses. Yamamoto's spirit energy saturates Ryu Jin Jaka's flames but the space in the center where he flames don't touch..."

Following his instructions, I thought, "There's a kind of structure of spiritual pressure holding back the flames. It's delicate, almost like a soap bubble. If any of us bumps into any part of the structure or if we exert more spirit energy than it takes to keep standing here, the structure'll collapse."

"And the flames will come crashing in on us and incinerate everyone here," finished Sloth. "Since he couldn't be sure where Aizen was, he made a mine field. How did you know?"

"I've battled Captain Commander Yamamoto before," replied Vaccine. "It was another life, but you don't forget fighting in a battle that threatened to reduce all creation to ashes. Do not underestimate Ryu Jin Jaka or its wielder."

"He still thinks we're traitors," I thought with sudden panic. "Even if we can get out of this trap, he's going to kill us along with Aizen."

"Assuming he gets the chance," thought the other me. "Baragan's two ranks above Ulquiora, and he almost killed us all at once. The gathered captains are going to have a tough fight on their hands."

With little else we could do, the four of us settled in to watch the fight going on outside the flames using the Mad Eyes, and look for an opportunity to act.

As his first act, Baragan had his fraccion assemble a throne of bones. Once seated on his hovering chair, Baragan assessed the situation and determined that four pillars, hidden by invisibility spells and positioned at the corners of the town were responsible for swapping the real Karakura Town with the fake. If the pillars were destroyed, the real Karakura Town would switch back.

To that end, Baragan dispatched hollows to the pillars. The hollows disrupted the invisibility charms, but were quickly slain by the soul reapers Yamamoto had left guarding the pillars. In response, Baragan sent four of his fracciones to deal with the pillars' guardians while himself remaining with the remainder of his fraccion to stare down the captains.

Three of the soul reapers guarding their pillars defeated the arancars sent after them, but he fourth pillar, guarded by Ikaku, third seat of Squad Eleven, was destroyed. The captain and lieutenant of squad seven had to intervene. Captain Komumura used his bankai to crush the arancar while Lieutenant Iba stopped the real Karakura Town from returning suing a set of stakes driven into the ground that stabilized things for the moment.

Baragan's two remaining fracciones stepped forward. Ignoring the pillars, they went for the captains themselves. Soi Fon and Hitsugaya rushed forward with their lieutenants to meet the arancars. Yamamoto, Kyoraku,and Ukitake stayed back, conserving their strength. The captains fighting toyed with their respective arancars, getting a handle on their abilities, even letting them go into resureccion, before finishing their fights in a way that left no doubt that they could have done so any time they chose.

More upset at his minions' failure than their deaths, Baragan rose from his throne. Shattering the bone throne, Aizen's last espada retrieved a great axe concealed inside. That's when things started to turn against the soul reapers.

Baragan was fast, keeping pace with Soi Fon and outpacing everyone else with his soinido. Kyoraku and Ukitake joined the fight while Yamamoto continued to bide his time. As they fought, I got a good look at everyone's powers.

A passive time dilation field around Baragan slowed incoming attacks and allowed him to easily dodge even Soi Fon's best effort. Whenever anyone got in close, they'd slow down. Baragan's lightest touch could age whatever body part he contacted, rendering bones brittle, joints arthritic, and muscles wasted.

I now had my answer about how he had survived my flesh bomb. The bomb had aged to uselessness in direct contact with his body. Meanwhile, the same effect had tried to take hold against me when I reached inside him to implant the bomb. Ran Tao's antiageing treatment had allowed me to fight off the effects by going into a coma.

Captain Ukitake used a long range lightning kido, which wasn't slowed enough by Baragan's time dilation field for him to dodge. At the same time, Captain Kyoraku performed a sneak attack from behind. The time dilation field did rob the attack of its momentum, but Kyoraku compensated by employing a special ability of his shikai that caused any hit to do damage based on how much of a particular color they were both wearing rather than due to conventional measures like force imparted over the area of impact. It was a devastating combo that Hitsugaya followed up by summoning a dragon made of ice and slamming it into Baragan from above.

Lying in the rubble of a building he'd been smashed into, bleeding profusely, Baragan closed his fingers around his axe, looked up at the soul reapers, and declared, "Rot, Arogante!"

In his released state, Baragan was a skeleton in elaborate purple robes and a gold crown. He wore loose gold bracelets that connected to chains under his robes. A shallow gouge ran vertically across one eye socket, corresponding to a scar he sported on the flesh of his sealed form.

Rising to his feet, Baragan said, "Respiera," and a black miasma flowed from his body. Whatever his miasma touched rotted away to nothing in seconds. Soi Fon, who'd been moving in for an attack with her two hit kill shikai when Baragan went down, was forced to reverse course and flash step away as fast as she could. It wasn't fast enough.

A finger on her left hand touched the miasma, and the flesh began rapidly dissolving off her hand and working its way up her arm. Thinking quickly, she had her lieutenant cut off her arm at the shoulder. The bone disintegrated quickly after the flesh had rotted away. That pt the captains back on the defensive.

Hitsugaya raised up walls of ice. Ukitake raised a barrier with a high level kido. Baragan's respiera rotted through both in seconds. Those seconds gave the soul reapers time to prepare a counterattack. When Baragan got through the wall, he was facing down an enormous missile that was Soi Fon's bankai.

Kyoraku helped steady the slender, wounded captain as she lined up her shot. The missile fired and even Baragan's soinido wasn't fast enough to let him dodge. Instead, he used respiera, breathing out a cloud of black miasma between him and the missile. Detonating prematurely, the part of the spirit energy enhanced explosion hat hit Baragan wasn't enough to break through his hiero.

Concealed within a cloud of spiritually active smoke from Soi Fon's bankai, only the Mad Eye allowed us to assess the damage or lack thereof. To normal vision or spiritual senses, all anyone would be able to detect was Baragan vanishing as he was enveloped in the explosion. Aizen was just as convinced of Baragan's death as the captains fighting him.

A new gargana opened. Wonderweis came through followed by a massive, one eyed blob with gilleon masks for fingernails. The newly arrived arancar got behind Ukitake with a burst of soinido faster than Ulquiora had used and punched through the white haired captain's abdomen. Kyoraku tried to use the opening to attack the arancar but was swatted to the ground by Wonderweis.

As the two captains dropped, Wonderweis screamed out unintelligable. The force of his voice swept away the smoke obscuring the uninjured Baragan. A second wail from Wonderwies was some kind of order to the other creature. The bloated, blob like creature took in a deep breath and blew out Yamamoto's flames, freeing Aizen, Tosen, Gin, the Sloths, and the mes.

"I've got Aizen and Baragan," I thought to Sloth. "You deal with Tosen and Wonderweis."

"The won't know what hit 'em," thought Sloth.

A dark grey fist punched through Tosen's head, destroying his brain instantly. In the same instant, a yo-yo burning with the crimson light of Sloth's magic shattered the hilt of Wonderweis' sword before punching through the arancar's skull.

Baragan's time dilation field would have given him time to avoid an attack like that, so instead, homunculus me kept the invisibility cloak on until my hands had grabbed hold of Baragan's skull. In response, he breathed out a thick dark cloud of respiera that fully enveloped me. My Ultimate Shield was no defense. Diamonds age and decay over time, and Baragan's respiera reduced that time to under a second.

Diamonds age, but homunculi don't. When the cloud of respiera cleared, I was in my default homunculus form, with pale skin, black hair, and pointed teeth. The Mad Eye had crumbled to dust in my eye socket like every other object I carried except for the silver pocket watch wrapped around my waist. My purple, slitted eyes couldn't see Baragan, but both hands were still firmly wrapped around his skull. I squeezed and shattered that skull with my red stone fueled strength. With no way to see the enemy, homunculus me dropped to the ground, found a bench, and took a seat to wait out the rest of the battle.

Gripping my zanpakto in both hands, visored me swung for Aizen's neck with all the strength my resureccion form had to offer. I didn't have the massive strength and speed advantage over my opponent the others did, so as my invisibility cloak fluttered open, Aizen had time to react. Raising his left hand, Aizen stopped my blade with a finger.

"I'm disappointed," said Aizen. "With all of the clever tricks you used to disable my arancars, I'd hoped to see more than a straightforward, brute force attack against an opponent who's spiritual pressure dwarfs yours even in this hollowfied form."

Aizen too his sword in his right hand and swung for my waist. It was too fast for me to dodge. Without the shield spells woven into my uniform, Aizen would have cut me in half, separating my arachnid lower body from my humanoid upper body. My shield held and Aizen's blade didn't touch me.

"An automatic kido shield. Amusing," said Aizen. "It seems I'll have to put some actual effort into my swing to end your life."

"The shield spells just needed to keep me alive long enough for the poison to take effect," I said, smirking under my mask. Aizen's eyes widened and his breathing went ragged. "Touching my sword with your bare hand wasn't very smart. After I saw you do it to Ichigo, I decided I'd make you regret that arrogance.

"If I'd just coated my blade with venom from my fangs, your spirit energy would repel the spirit energy in the poison and keep your skin from absorbing it. So, I took the time to develop a spiritually neutral neurotoxin based on VX, adapted to soul reaper physiology. The toxin prevents your muscles from relaxing once they contract. For most of your body, you could strengthen an opposing muscle with spirit energy and rely on your added durability to keep the muscles from tearing as you force them to extend. The thing is, the heart doesn't have any opposing muscles. So, once it contracts once, that's it.

"Your heart beat for the last time a moment ago. You're dying slowly because your spirit energy is limiting the damage lack of blood flow is doing to your other tissues, but no amount of spirit energy can keep you alive like this for long."

It was amazing Aizen managed to stay in the air as his limbs folded him into a fetal position, his face twisted into a grimace, and his skin discolored from the stagnant blood beginning to pool. It was a horrible way to die. A better person than me might have felt some regret about that, but I remembered Aizen trying to hurt my friends and I couldn't bring myself to care.

Suddenly, a stream of energy shot from one of the pouches on Sloth's utility belt to Aizn's chest. The surge of power burned away enough of Aizen's shirt to reveal the fake hogyoku Sloth had left behind embedded in his chest. The energy surge shattered the fake, as Sloth took out the real hogyoku, which was the original point of the energy stream. The hogyoku Sloth was holding shrank to nothing and the energy stream coalesced back into the hogyoku in Aizen's chest.

Aizen stood back up, completely relaxed as his normal color returned. A triumphant smile was playing on his lips, trying to keep out from where it was hidden behind a confident smirk.

"You hay have tkaen the hogyoku from me, but it acknowledges me as its master," explained Aizen. Then he made good on his promise to put effort into his sword swing and cut me in half at the waist, shattering the kido barriers that sprang up in his way.

As my two halves fell, I employed a quincy technique to create reshi strings. When fully mastered,t he technique allows the quincy to keep fighting through crippling injuries until their body is literally reduced to dust by using the reshi strings to control their own body like a puppet. I was nowhere near mastering the technique, but I had enough control to use the reshi strings to pull the two halves of my body together. My high speed regeneration fused the two halves properly, and I managed to stop my fall just before I hit the ground.

While I was pulling myself back together, Gin glanced at homunculus Sloth and said, "Hakufuku." With neither spirit energy nor active defenses, Sloth succumbed to the sleep spell and tumbled to the ground. Her magical girl self threw a yo-yo at Gin, which he easily dodged.

"You burned through a lot of power making sure Wonderweis was dead," noted Gin. "You don't have enough left to fight a captain. And to recharge, you'd have to open the protective cover on your Soul Gem. Just guess how well that's going to go."

"Or, I could do this," said Sloth as she clapped her hands.

Gin and Aizen both flash stepped to avoid the flame alchemy Sloth used. The air which would have been inside their lungs and sinuses exploded harmlessly. While they were dodging, Sloth flash stepped down to her homunculus self.

I flash stepped to Sloth's side, releasing my shikai and said, "Go ahead and clean your Soul Gem. I'll cover you."

"Actually, why don't you both take a break," said Shinji Hirako as he and the other visoreds arrived on the scene. His toothy grin was as broad as ever, and all of the other visoreds likewise looked eager.

Shinji dispatched Hadji to help reinforce the barrier surrounding Karakura Town, then went to consult with Head Captain Yamamoto. Aizen and Gin waited patiently for the two leaders to come to an understanding. At the conclusion of their conversation, the captains and lieutenants of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads lowered themselves to the ground just in time for Shinji to take out a bakoto.

"You have to admire Greed's total lack of respect for Central 46 and its laws," said Shinji to Aizen with a nod in my direction. "This illegal weapon he brought us has the ability to seal soul reaper powers, which includes your Kyoka Suigetsu."

Shinji struck his bakoto and zanpakto together. The bakoto rang like a tuning fork as tentacles dug into the flesh of his right arm. The other visoreds dropped nimbly to the ground while Aizen and Gin fell out of the sky suddenly as their powers failed them. My Tsumi no Rensa sealed itself back into sword form as my soul reaper powers were sealed.

On the ground, Aizen got to his feet and said, "I should thank you, Captain Hirako, for making it possible to eliminate the captains and lieutenants of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads in a single stroke. It makes up for the abysmal performance of my espada." At that point, the blob creature that had arrived with Wonderweis vomited up hundreds of gilleons.

"Soske, you have so little faith in us," said Shinji shaking his head. "Did you manage to forget that we've had a hundred years to maser the hollow powers you gave us? Once we've cleared up the gilleons, we'll get back to killing you, assuming the captains haven't beaten us to it."

The visoreds donned their masks and started shredding the gilleons. Mashiro went into resureccion, becoming a grasshopper like hollow and killed the blob creature in one kick. Shinji was the only one capable of high speed movement, but as slow and lumbering as gilleons are, high speed movement wasn't needed.

Meanwhile, Yamamoto, Hitsugaya, Komumura, and Kyoraku surrounded Aizen and Gin. With her severed arm, Soi Fon stayed back to keep an eye on Ukitake. Outnumbered two to one with all combatants having their spirit energy sealed, Gin and Aizen went back to back. The moment the did, Gin's zanpakto stabbed Aizen in the back.

With no spirit energy mitigating the damage, all Aizen could do was look down at the blade coming out of his chest in disbelief. He stumbled forward a few steps and collapsed.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for a chance like that," said Gin as he bent down and reached for the hogyoku. Aizen's hadn caught his wrist.

"From the very beginning," said Aizen. I cold feel spirit energy flowing fro Aizen. It was nowhere near his full strength, but it was plenty to dispatch all four of his fully sealed soul reaper opponents. "I knew what you intended before I turned my back on you. I needed the fear of imminent death to communicate to the hogyoku what I needed from it."

Aizen cut Gin down with a diagonal slash across his chest. I fired a bala at Aizen's wrist, causing him to lose his grip on his sword. Sloth wrapped a yo-yo string around Kyoka Suigetsu and pulled the sword to her hand. Once she had it, she stepped on the blade and broke it in two. Unconcerned with the loss, Aizen moved inside Hitsugaya's guard, grabbed Hyonimaru, and planted a kick in the young captain's chest that collapsed his rib cage.

As Aizen turned toward Yamamoto, I used hirenkyaku to interpose myself between them. Aizen's spirit energy was still being hampered by Shinji's bakoto, he was using an unfamiliar blade much longer than he was used to, and he didn't have the luxury of focusing all his attention on me. I got inside his guard and stabbed him twice, piercing his soul chain and soul sleep. Doing so destroys a soul reaper's powers. He still had spiritual pressure, but if what I'd just done had worked, what he was able to use now thanks to the hogyoku was now all he had in him.

The gilleons were dead, so Shinji and the visoreds made their way back.

"We'll handle Soske from here," said Shinji. "Can you two help the wounded?"

Sloth and I nodded. I picked up Hitsugaya and moved to where Soi Fon, Ukitake, and the lieutenants who'd gone up against Baragan were. It didn't take us long to get everyone back in fighting shape. I handled the missing limbs and destroyed organs while Sloth dealt with the more esoteric conditions.

Shinji disarmed Aizen, returning Hyonimaru to Hitsugaya. Then the visoreds proceeded to deliver one of the most brutal beat downs I'd ever seen to Aizen. Through it all, however, Aizen's spirit energy was growing. Drawing this out was playing into Aizen's hands.

"Everyone get back," I yelled, tossing six disks with red stones and transmutation circles on them at Aizen.

The visoreds backed out of range as Aizen was contained inside a box covered in glowing blue transmutation circles. Inside, a supercritical mass of plutonium was transmuted. The resulting nuclear explosion was fully contained for a moment, then the lid blasted off, sending a jet of nuclear fire into the upper atmosphere.

Aizen didn't have enough spiritual pressure to withstand the blast, but when the flames cleared, a humanoid figure covered head to toe in white with a blade emerging from his atrophied right hand climbed out. His spiritual pressure had vanished. With speed I'd only ever seen from Ichigo's bankai, Aiszzen cut down all of the visoreds, myself included. He'd deliberately gone for crippling injuries that would leave us alive and conscious, but unable to move, and which wouldn't heal through high speed regeneration.

Having had the chance to fully recharge with Grief seeds, Sloth stepped up to face Aizen. He swung his blade through her head too fast for her to dodge, cutting right through the soul synthesized glass that was supposed to be indestructible. Then I realized the blade hadn't cut her. It had passed through her. She smirked and threw her yo-yo through Aizen's chest. She put all of her magic into that attack save the tiny scrap necessary to stay sane. The power of the attack obliterated most of Aizen's torso, leaving head, arms, and legs only vaguely connected by a rough ring of skin and sinew.

A burst of light flew from Aizen's nonexistent chest and the wound partially closed, forming something akin to a hollow hole. Sloth dropped to her knees in the face of this latest transformation. Everything she had to throw at him and he just wouldn't die.

"Do you understand what's been happening?" asked Aizen. "The structure around your Soul Gem is an advanced technology I couldn't duplicate in a thousand years. It serves as a kind of user interface that lets you use the power of the central crystal at will. The hogyoku lacks such a structure, so I've been forced to communicate my desires to it in the form of more basic, primitive emotions. By fighting me as hard as you have you've made me desperate and afraid, and the hogyoku responded by bringing me closer to my goal of becoming a transcendent being. Thank you all for your efforts."

Sloth's Soul Gem was almost completely black, and Aizen's taunts were threatening to tip her over the edge when a garganta appeared and Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Orihime burst out. Aizen was hit by a black getsuga tensho, Chad's El Directo, and a barrage of soul destroying quincy arrows. Orihime put her triangular shield between Sloth and the explosion Aizen was enveloped in and immediately cleaned away the grief in Sloth's Soul Gem with her healing shield.

"I'm disappointed, Ichigo Kurosaki," said Aizen as the dust cleared. "I had expected you to reach a new level of power against Ulquiora. As you are, your efforts won't be able to aid my evolution at all."

Aizen toyed with them for a while before cutting down Chad and Uryu, turning his back on Ichigo and entering a senkaimon to the Soul Society to make good on his plan to destroy Karakura Town and create the Oken. Once I was healed, I clapped my hands and destroyed the three remaining pillars using flame alchemy. The real Karakura Town and all its inhabitants returned to the world of the living.

"That won't slow Aizen down for long," said Kiske arriving on the scene.

"Where were you?" asked Shinji.

"We would've been here sooner, but someone was using a bakoto," said Yoruichi.

Dropping out of resureccion and removing my mask, I said, "We have to go after him! I know his weakness!"

"Is there some reason you haven't used it until now?" asked Gin dryly. "Maybe you were waiting for a dramatic climax."

"It doesn't matter what weakness he has," said Ichigo. "You felt how strong he was. We'll never get a chance to use it."

"Wait, you could sense his energy?" asked Ishin who'd come with Yoruichi and Kiske. "Greed, Ichigo, you both come with me. Everyone else, stay here and try to slow him down if he comes back."

Ishin opened the senkaimon and the three of us ran in. In the dangai, we noticed the cleaner was gone, likely Aizen's doing. Ishin halted the restrictive current so we could take advantage of the greater density of time here.

"What's this weakness you spotted?" asked Ishin.

"It's the hogyoku itself," I said. "It's responding to his subconscious desires, his base emotions. Without his will to live and grow, the hogyoku won't save his life and evolve him. If he gets suicidally depressed while linked to the hogyoku, it will kill him."

"Your dementor things?" confirmed Ichigo.

"Yes, but there's a catch," I replied. "He has to stand still long enough for them to effect him. If I'd realized what he was doing sooner, I could've finished this before he got this strong. As he is now..."

"That's why Ichigo's here," said Ishin. "If you can sense his energy, then I can teach you a technique that'll put him down long enough for Greed's plan to work. It's called the final getsuga tensho."

"Final getsuga tensho?" asked Ichigo.

"Sit down and meditate," explained Ishin. "Enter your inner world and communicate with your sword. I'll hold back the restrictive current s long as I can. That should be about three months. That's how long you have to get Zangetsu to tell you what the final getsuga tensho is for you."

"Wait," I said. "Before you go in, there's something you should know."

"What's that?" asked Ichigo.

"The being you know as Zangetsu isn't your zanpakto," I said. "He's a manifestation of the quincy power that acts to stabilize the balance between your soul reaper and hollow abilities."

"How do you know that?" asked Ichigo.

"Do you remember when Muramasa manifested our zanpakto spirits? I recognized yours as the same being as the quincy manifestation in my own soul."

"Does this have to do with why you fainted?" Ichigo asked.

I nodded. "The quincy manifestation pulled me into my inner world and tried to kill me when I figured out what was going on. We came to an understanding and are allies again, so it's not hopeless or anything. But you needed to know what was going on inside you before you tried this."

"Thanks for telling me," said Ichigo. "I'll talk to Zangetsu, sort this out, learn the final getsuga tensho and we'll defeat Aizen."

* * *

"Do you really think this'll take three months?" I asked Ishin once Ichigo was under.

"It might," said Ishin looking own at where Ichigo sat cross legged with his sword in his lap. "Our swords don't really want to teach us this technique."

"Why not?" I asked.

"It comes with a price," said Ishin. "Once you use it, you lose all of your spiritual powers. I'd do it myself rather than put this on Ichigo, but he's the only one close enough to Aizen's power to still be able to sense him."

"That's why I couldn't sense him? He had so much more spirit energy than me that my senses couldn't process it? Like how I couldn't sense spirit energy at all when I didn't have any myself."

"You really hadn't figured that out on your own?" asked Ishin.

I slumped down and said, "I haven't been at the top of my game this whole fight. I let Aizen cut me in half when I had an intangibility device on me. I didn't realize the hogyoku was evolving him after every major injury he suffered even after he spelled it out to Gin. When I noticed his power spiking, I did the exact wrong thing and tried to kill him with overwhelming firepower instead of thinking through my options. It's my fault Ichigo's going to lose his powers to give us a chance to stop Aizen. If I'd realized what was going on sooner, I could have finished it before things got to this point."

A shallow cut opened on Ichigo's shoulder. He didn't move from his deep meditation pose. I closed his wound with a wordless healing spell.

"I'm not gonna tell you you didn't screw up," said Ishin. "But to be honest, we didn't have any kind of plan besides beating Aizen down either. Well, Kiske might've had one, but he didn't tell any of us about it if he did."

"Aizen was going out of his way to make enemies," I said. "He hurt Momo to piss off Hitsugaya. He ruined the visoreds lives and gave them a power up at the same time. He had a vasto lorde arancar with orders to keep beating Ichigo down and letting him heal until Ichigo got strong enough to kill him. It was all in service to this plan, so everone hitting him with everything they've got would cause the hogyoku to evolve him into a god. Even destroying the cleaner to give us this time to train is a part of that plan."

"It takes a strange and twisted mind to come up with a plan like that," said Ishin. "Or to understand it."

"Oh, shut up," I said, getting to my feet.

"What're you doing?" asked Ishin.

"Training," I said. "We're here for the next three months. When Ichigo's ready to go I'm going to be as ready as I can be to support him. And make sure he doesn't end up sacrificing his powers for nothing."

* * *

In the dank cavern between worlds, a dozen hollows flew at top speed in every direction trying to dodge. A glowing blue arrow struck each directly in the center of its mask. A metal ring fell to the ground for each hollow as it disintegrated. I opened my eyes, took a breath, and allowed the glowing blue bow in my left hand to fade away. The hollows reappeared as I fed spirit energy back into the dropped chain links of my bankai.

"That was good, guys," I said. "I think we should double the distance and try again."

As my training partners headed down the tunnel to comply, I suddenly sensed a dramatic change in Ichigo's spiritual pressure. I'd gotten some distance to do my training, but even well outside visual range, I was forced to my knees as Ichigo's power swelled to the very limit of my comprehension. Then it went higher, vanishing to heights I couldn't percieve and thus, fortunately, couldn't be effected by, unless Ichigo wanted to effect me.

The holows had been curshed to death by Ichigo's spiritual pressure. I didn't bother resummoning them. It was time to emerge from the cave and finish what we came here for. I was back with Ichigo and Ishin in a single flash step.

Ishin had passed out from the spike in Ichigo's spiritual pressure. I checked him over as the restrictive current began to flow again. Ichigo opened his eyes.

The young man was in bankai. He had been the entire itme, but its appearance had changed. The sleeve of his right arm was gone. The chain attached to his sword's hilt had grown longer and now snaked around his arm all the way up his shoulder. The hand that held the hilt of his sword did so using a black gauntlet that didn't look like it was even capable of opening.

"Your dad's okay," I told Ichigo as I picked up Ishin. "He's just unconscious."

"Good," said Ichigo. "Let's go."

He wasn't flash stepping, but I needed to to keep pace as we exited the precipice world and saw the sun of the Soul Society. I clipped a dozen links from my bankai to the chain around Ichigo's arm. Ichigo sensed Aizen and vanished from view with a flash step so fast he might as well have apparated.

Sensing a familiar spiritual pressure, I actually did apparate, taking Ishin with me to where the bount Ugaki had set up a card table and was sweating heavily as he laid down cards.

"Report," I ordered as I set Ishin down next to the card table.

"Soske Aizen arrived in the Soul Society about an hour ago," said Ugaki. "Militia scouts spotted him approaching the fake Karakura Town. The real one had just returned to the wrold of the living. We opened fire on him with kido guns, but they had no effect.

"No one can sense his spirit energy, but anyone with spirit energy of their own who gets close is disintegrated almost instantly. I've been using Gesel to observe him from a distance and coordinate our efforts.

"Koga and Ryo went to fight him, but even with the Jokai crests' power, they were outclassed. They only survived because Aizen left them for dead and they were able to use the ambient spirit energy to regenerate."

"I need you to move any of our people in the area away from Aizen," I said. "Ichigo's already on his way with a technique we hope'll be able to stop him."

"Ichigo Kurosaki's already fighting Aizen," said Ugaki. "He took the fight to an unpopulated area and Gesel's having some trouble getting close enough to give us a clear picture of what's going on."

"Can you show me what you do see?" I asked.

One of the floating eye creatures that formed a part of Ugaki's doll appeared in front of me. The eye acted like a television screen, showing what a differant eye a considerable distance away was observing. Massive shock waves were buffetting the eye at a distance of miles. Mountains were being reduced to rubble and gashes were being torn in the earth as Ichigo and Aizen clashed. This dwarfed what I'd seen from Ulquiora during the final battle in Hueco Mundo.

When the shock waves died down enough for Gesel's eye to get close, I saw Ichigo without a sword standing over a creature I presumed to be Aizen. He'd evolved further over the course of the battle and was now only mildly humanoid. Ichigo had bisected him the long way. I could see his wounds starting to mend themselves. This was probably our last chance.

The chain links from my bankai Ichigo was carrying transformed into a dozen dementors. I'd had plenty of time to explain what they needed to do. Ignoring Ichigo, they formed a circle around Aizen. I apparated to the scene.

Aizen's wounds had completely mended, but he couldn't bring himself into a sitting position despite several attempts. A layer of frost covered the ground beneath Aizen as the dementors drew in the heat from the area along with every happy memory Aizen had. When his will to live had been thoroughly drained away, one of the dementors glided toward Aizen and rolled him onto his back.

Leaning down, the dementor drew back its hood. Aizen tried to defend himself, but despair had sapped his strength. The dementor's kiss was every bit as hard to watch as people said. Even when performed on someone like Aizen, there was something inherently wrong about watching something as precious and sacred as a soul go to feed a creature of darkness and depression. I ended the manefestation of the dementors as the one that performed the kiss drew up its hood.

Aizen's spiritual body was laying on the ground, still technically alive, but emptied of sentience, will, animating force. I plucked the hogyoku out of his body, put it in my pocket, and formed a bow. A dozen arrows annihalated every remaining scrap of Aizen's body. It was over.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Aizen's plan was basically get everyone mad at him and get them to beat the shit out of him until the hogyoky made him a god. Everything else was set dressing and him being dramatic. For all that Greed blames himself for not seeing it, this was an absolutely insane plan that no one would have seen coming.


	56. Chapter 64: Awaiting Ichigo's Recovery

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 64) Awaiting Ichigo's Recovery  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

A few minutes later, Kiske arrived accompanied by Rukia, Renji, Chad, Uryu, Orihime, and Sloth. The post battle reunion was ruined when in the middle of greeting everyone, Ichigo screamed in agony and collapsed to the ground. Nothing Sloth or Orihime did could revive him. Kiske explained.

"Ichigo isn't hurt. The technique he used to defeat Aizen came with a price. His soul is undergoing some changes as a result. The end result will be the permanent loss of his spirit energy."

"There has to be a way to reverse this," said Uryu. "What about using the bount's doll that restored my abilities?"

"Ichigo's powers aren't being sealed," said Kiske. "They're vanishing entirely. It'll happen over several stages. Right now, time is flowing backward for him, reversing his time spent in the precipice world. When he wakes up, his powers will have stabilized. It's impossible to tell how long he'll stay in that state. It may be a week. It may be a year, but eventually, he'll progress to the next stage. He'll lose consciousness again, accompanied by great pain, and when he wakes up, his powers will be gone."

"We shouldn't leave him out here," said Rukia. "We can take him to my house and make him comfortable until he wakes up."

"You go ahead," I said. "I need to talk to Kiske."

Chad gently picked up Ichigo, and he, Rukia, Renji, Uryu, and Orihime headed for the Seireitei. Sloth stayed back with me. When they'd gone I took out Aizen's hogyoku.

"This hogyoku is fully awakened," I said. "Can you use it to stabilize Ichigo and keep him from losing his powers?"

Shaking his head, Kiske said, "The hogyoku likely has that power, but there's no way to make it understand what we need it to do. You saw the lengths Aizen had to go to trying to communicate something as simple as 'make me stronger'. Trying to use the hogyoku for anything other than hollowfication is playing with fire."

"Why is hollowfication safe?" I asked.

"Because that's what Kiske and Aizen had in mind when they made it," said Sloth. "It's the same reason magical girls develop powers based on our wish."

"Ichigo's sacrifice saved all our lives and this whole world," said Kiske. "No one's going to forget that. I fully intend to research his condition and find a way to restore his powers if I can. The hogyoku isn't the answer, though. Let me render it dormant and seal it inside a barrier. As it is, it'll keep trying to manifest heart's desires it doesn't fully understand, most likely doing more harm than good."

Placing his hands on either side of the crystal, its light faded until it was identical to the black marble hidden under Urahara's shop. With a quick kido chant, he encased the hogyoku in a barrier.

"I'd like to thank you both for staying as long as you have and helping to defeat Aizen," said Kiske. "I presume you'll be wanting to take that hogyoku back to your world so you can create your own visoreds."

Closing my hand around the artifact, I said, "Eventually. There are still somethings I want to do here. If there's anything I can do to help Ichigo recover, please let me know."

"I will," said Kiske. He opened a senkaimon and left for the world of the living.

"What now?" asked Sloth.

"The militia suffered casualties holding off Aizen," I said. "I'd like you to bring back who you can. Meanwhile, I'm going to fix up the new capital of the Rukon District."

"New capital?"

"The fake Karakura Town was a pretty exact replica, making it a fully functional modern city. It got smashed up in the fighting, but that's nothing a few repair spells can't fix.

* * *

I was cleaning Sloth's Grief Seeds in the rebuilt Karakura Town when a black hell butterfly approached me. I held up a finger and received the message.

"What was that?" asked Sloth.

"That was from Central 46. They've issued pardons for everyone involved with the fight against Aizen. Looks like I won't have to put on a disguise when we go visit Ichigo at the Kuchki mannor."

"Does this mean you're going to be back in a captain's coat?"

"Nah," I said, shaking my head. "They've got plenty of former captains to choose from. Besides, I only took the job in the first place to steal Mayuri's data."

"What do you say we go meet up with the others now?" said Sloth.

I took her hand and apparated to the west gate. There, I was surprised to see Captain Sajin Komumura.

"I was pleased to hear that your exile had been lifted," said Komumura. "You have continued to be a friend to the Soul Society throughout."

"Thank you, Captain Komumura," I said.

"Sajin," corrected the enormous anthropomorphic wolf.

"Thank you, Sajin," I said wiht a smile.

"I expected this to be the gate you used to reenter the Seireitei. It was not just to offer my congratulations that I decided to wait for you."

"What do you need?" I asked.

"It's about Kaname," said Sajin. "In spite of everything that's happened, he was still my friend. I don't blame you for his death. I know there wasn't really any other way to sotp him at the time. Even so, now that Aizen is dead, I ask that you bring Kaname back."

"Tosen was a true believer in Aizen's plan," said Sloth. "He wasn't an innocent manipulated by Aizen's manchinations."

"I know that," said Komumura, though saying those words out loud clearly pained him. "He will face the judgement of Central 46 and pay for his crimes. I sincerely believe that he can be made to see the error of his ways and come out the other side a better person."

"Assuming Central 46 doesn't just order him executed again," I pointed out.

"At least he'll have had a chance," said Sajin. "How could I say I was ever his friend if I didn't try to at least give him that?"

"I'll do it," said Sloth. "Get whoever you need to together so he can be safely restrained once he's revived. When everything's ready, let me know."

"You have my gratitude," said Komumura bowing.

"I hope he's right," said Sloth after we'd gone our separate ways.

"So do I," I said.

* * *

I took a moment to thank Byakuya, while visiting Ichigo, for whatever influence the Kuchki clan may or may not have exerted toward the decision by Central 46 to end my banishment, and that of so many of my friends and allies. As our divination attempts suggested Ichigo would be out for the next ten days, I decided to make the rounds and visit some of the people I hadn't been able to lately.

Momo and Squad 5 were doing well. They'd continued with the new training drills I'd introduced, and a lot of them were making good progress. I joined them for hand to hand training. I'd improved a lot, but I was still one of the worst ones there.

After leaving the training grounds, Sloth and I made our way to the Kasomioji estate. Princess Rurichio was glad to see us. I took the opportunity to thank her for both the influence she may have exerted toward ending my exile, butt also for getting me involved in the troubles with Kumoi earlier. Illegal and unauthorized it may have been, but the bakoto had stopped Aizen from being able to turn the Thirteen Court Guard Squads against themselves.

While there, Rurichio and her husband Shu asked us to talk to Kenryu for them. The lord and princess had been trying to organize a festival to lift the people's spirits after everything that had happened. Kenryu was resisting, insistent that the Kasomioji clan needed to prioritize mending relations with the other noble families.

"If it's a matter of priorities, Lady Rurichio obviously has the right idea," said Sloth when we went to speak with Kenryu.

"I share Lady Rurichio's desire to lift her people's spirits," said Kenryu, "but there's simply too much that needs to be done to restore the confidence and trust of the other clans."

"The days of the Seireitei's nobility holding all the power are coming to an end," said Sloth. "Things are changing, and soon it will be the people who hold the power. When that day comes, they'll remember who made them a priority and who was too busy to be bothered by their concerns."

"It looks to me like that day's coming faster than you think," I said to Kenryu. "Even you must not think much of the importance of nobility if you're so determined to put your own judgement over that of the Kasomioji clan's princess."

"Lady Rurichio will grow into a fine ruler one day, but for now, she is still a child and in need of guidance," said Kenryu.

"You're still underestimating her," said Sloth. "You think the only way she could disagree with you is if she didn't understand your position. She and Lord Shu both understand where you're coming from, Sir Kenryu."

"Is what she's proposing such a disaster?" I asked.

"Well, no, but-" began Kenryu.

"Your job is to advise and educate," I said. "Lady Rurichio may need you to step in and put your foot down to avert disaster one day, but if you make a habit of overruling her decisions, how will that make you any different than Kumoi?"

"Now wait just a minute," said Kenryu, affronted.

"How many proposals has the princess made since taking over as head of the clan that she felt this strongly about?" asked Sloth.

"This has been her first real attempt to exert authority since Kumoi was removed," said Kenryu weakly.

"Then if you want her to grow into that leader you believe she can be one day, maybe you should let her get used to making decisions," I said.

"I'm sure the princess would be happy to hear any suggestions you have about which nobles to invite to this festival in a show of favor, alliance, or solidarity," said Sloth. "There is room for your ideas in her agenda. She obviously cares a good deal what you think or she'd have simply removed you when you tried to stop her plans."

"I suppose this isn't the kill to die on," said Kenryu. "I will do everything in my power to make Lady Rurichio's festival a success."

* * *

Chad, Uryu, and Orihme were determined to stay in the Soul Society with Ichigo until he woke up. Used to commuting between worlds on a daily basis, Sloth and I returned home to synchronize with our homunculus selves and sleep in our own bed. That let our homunculus selves explain the situation to our friends in the human world while our souls were dealing with business in the Soul Society.

The trip to the Soul Society and back had kick started Chizuru and Mizuiro's development of spiritual powers. They could now see spirits. Tatski and Keigo had given them basic explanations and they were taking it well.

While the rest of us were in Hueco Mundo, Kiske had recruited Keigo, Tatski, and Chizuru, along with Ururu, Don Kanonji, and Kon to protect Karakura town from hollows. To help them, Kiske had provided them with weapons in the form of wristwatches that clothed them in super hero costumes with the push of a button. Each costume had different armament and the watches could be recharged after use from a standard wall outlet. They'd collectively been named the Karakuraizer force and had been able to defeat one of Aizen's arancars in the lead up to the big battle.

Back in the Soul Society, Coyote Stark and Lilinette Gingerback arrived in the Rukon District from Hueco Mundo. I kept my promise and outfitted them both with all the power limiting technology I had. While they were there, I asked for a favor and Stark opened a garganta back to Hueco Mundo for me to use.

* * *

"You came back!" exclaimed Nel, tackling me with a hug and squeezing the air out of me the instant I stepped out of the garganta into Las Noches.

"Nel, you have to let him breathe!" cautioned Sloth as she grabbed at one of the arancar's arms.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Nel, letting go.

"It's okay," I gasped as I verified nothing was broken.

Nel had traded in her torn rags for a form fitting white outfit. Las Noches no doubt had plenty of appropriate clothes lying around.

"We wanted to let you know how things endedwith Aizen," said Sloth. "He's dead, but Ichigo ended up needing to sacrifice his powers to make it happen."

"I've got mixed feelings," said Nel. "Lord Aizen save me from existence as a mindless beast. He may have done it for his own reasons, but I'm still grateful to him for that. Is Ichigo okay?"

"He'll be unconscious for a few days while his powers stablize," I said. "Other than the loss of his spirit energy, he's going to be just fine. And we're going to keep looking for a way to restore that too."

"When I lost my powers, it wasn't all bad," said Nel. "When you have power, you have an obligation to use it to protect those weaker than you. I can't count the number of times I had to save Noitora's life. Not having power meant that if something bad happened, it wasn't my fault, and it wasn't me that had to fix it."

"I screwed that up for you," I said. "Once I made the offer, not taking it would mean it was still your fault for rejecting the power in the first place. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Nel, shaking her head. "I decided I wanted my powers back when I fought Noitora. I'm just saying that for Ichigo, this might not be the end of the world. Maybe it's his turn to be the one people are protecting."

"Nel, did you know Halibel?" asked Sloth.

Nel shook her head. "She must've been recruited after I left. Why?"

"While we were spying on the espada, I read all their minds," said Sloth. "She was a good person. Too loyal to Aizen to be talked out of fighting for him like we managed with Stark, but a good person. We always planned on bringing her back to life after Aizen was gone."

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Nel.

"I don't know if her fraccion got away from the soul reapers or if they ended up fighting to the death," said Sloth. "If they're still alive, they should be here to greet her. If they aren't, I need to bring them back too."

"I'll get Pesche and Dondachaka and ask around," said Nel.

"Thanks," said Sloth.

While we waited for Nel to return, I turned to Sloth and said, "I'm going to ask Nel to teach me how to use arancar techniques."

"You've been looking forward to this chance for a while," acknowledged Sloth.

"I'm going to time turn after the training's done anyway, so I don't miss being there for Ichigo when he wakes up. You don't have to go through the training time with me."

"Are you trying to talk me into leaving you alone with a tall, busty, affectionate woman for who knows how long?" asked Sloth quirking an eyebrow.

I smiled, then said, "I just spent three months basically alone in the precipice world training. I did that because I had to do something to occupy the time while Ichigo did the training that actually mattered. IF there's something you want to do while we're here that's fine, but if there isn't, I don't want you to get bored while I study powers that aren't going to be relevant to you."

Sloth kissed me and said, "Okay. You go train up your hollow powers without me, but when you get back, I expect a thorough demonstration."

* * *

Nel had a lot to teach. It took a little over a month to master the lessons, most of which true arancars knew by instinct and didn't need to be taught. Bidding my master goodbye, I used my hour reversal charm to return to when I'd left Sloth, just after she finished resurrecting Halibel, Apache, Mila Rose, and Tsun Tsun.

"How'd your training go?" asked Sloth when I appeared.

"Well enough that I shouldn't be demonstrating everything I've learned under the dome of Las Noches," I said, taking Sloth in my arms. "Would you ladies like to join us outside?"

"Why not?" said Halibel.

I put on my mask and used soinido to get to the gate out of the city. I was a lot slower and clumsier with it than I was with flash step, but now that I had the basics down, I would improve with time and further practice on my own. That wasn't to say it didn't sting a little when Halibel and her fraccion were leaning against a wall feigning boredom when I got there.

"Soinido wasn't what we spent the most time on," I said as I put Sloth down.

"Obviously," said Mila Rose with a smirk.

"Hiero's a natural aspect of arancar anatomy, and not something you can really learn," I continued. "I did pick up pesquisa, a kind of active sensory ability. I can use it to analyze spirit energy in a person even if they're not using it and in a lot more detail than my passive senses." I released a small pulse of spirit energy and said, "Like the fact that out of you three, Apache's the one with the most focused and controlled spirit energy even if Mila Rose is technically stronger."

"I know you're building to something," said Sloth.

I smiled under my mask and said, "What we spent the most time on was ceros."

"You can use a cero?" asked Halibel.

"I've been able to use a cero for a while," I said. "Nel showed me how to mix my blood in with the cero to increase its power. That's why I wanted us to come outside the dome."

"You don't mean..." started Halibel as I nicked my thumb on my sword.

I held out my hand, brace it, and started gathering the energy. In a deep crimson flash I released an attack strong enough to blow the dome off Las Noches as I screamed, "Gran Ray Cero!"

"That's an espada technique..." said Apache, the first of the arancars to recover their power of speech after witnessing the display.

"I need to be in resureccion for this next one. Weave, Araña."

"Is this Cero Oscuras?" asked Halibel awed.

I nodded as I charged the intensely focused black cero that Ulquiora had used to blow a hole through Ichigo's chest. I doubted mine had the same level of destructive power, but it still went off with the force of a nuclear weapon concentrated into a beam the width of a soft ball.

Dropping out of resureccion, I said, "All the cero variants have an extra requirement. Gran Ray Cero, you need to be bleeding. Cero Oscuras, you need to be in resureccion. Cero Doble, someone needs to shoot a cero at you first. Mila Rose, can you give me a hand?"

"If that's what you want," said the tall arancar. A bright orange cero was coming straight for my head.

The fangs on my mask parted to expose my human mouth and chin. Hollows are defined by hunger, by their ability and compulsion to grow stronger by consuming souls with as much spirit energy as possible. That ability to stomach large quantities of spirit energy is what made this technique possible. I opened my mouth wide and let the hungry void in my stomach draw in the cero.

You can't digest a cero like that, so the only safe thing to do in the short time you've contained it within your body is pick a direction and vomit it back up. As I did so, I blended Mila Rose's orange cero with my red one to unleash a dark orange blast with their combined destructive power.

Removing my mask, I said, "I'm really proud of that one."

"I'll bet," said Sloth. "How many times did you get shot in the face before you got it right?"

"Enough that I know my high speed regeneration covers my eyes," I said. "But it's completely worth every painful mistake it took to learn it. You can use it to defend against and redirect ceros massively more powerful than you could use on your own. I might even be able to use it on other energy attacks like Ichigo's getsuga or Chad's El Directo. That'll take some more experimenting before I know for sure."

"I'd say this was pretty productive," said Sloth.

"I think so," I said with a smile. "I did pick up one last thing from Nel I've been wanting for a while." I snapped my fingers and opened a garganta. "Let's go check in with the others."

* * *

Author's comments:  
This was mostly tying up loose ends after Aizen's finally been dealt with. With the most powerful arancars in Hueco Mundo friendly, trips there to get some training on hollow techniques Greed's been wanting for ages can finally happen.


	57. Chapter 65: Sinners in Karakura Town

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 65) Sinners in Karakura Town  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Ichigo woke from his coma, on schedule, a little over a week later. After getting the details, he shrugged off the impending loss of his powers. I got the feeling he was putting on a front so we wouldn't get upset, but I didn't use legelimency to check.

Our party returned to the world of the living and things settled into a routine. There were frequent visits from the Soul Society, some more transparent in their intention to cheer Ichigo up than others. The Soul Reaper Women's Association arranging to have a beach party in the world of the living and inviting him along was pretty blatant.

Ichigo's powers had stabilized right around the level they were at after he fought Ulquiora. He continued to race me to hollows when they showed up in Karakura Town. It seemed cruel to put him through the additional training to master his hollow powers when they were going to fade away soon enough along with everything else.

All the while, a new collection of enemies began to draw nearer in my foeglass. Kiske couldn't tell me anything about these people. Two had very distinctive features. One had burn marks covering the right side of his face and another had tentacles where his eyes should be. These people were tied to one of the two remaining crises predicted for this year.

Sloth and I had settled in for the evening. Don Kanonju had been televising the continuing adventures of the Karakuraizer force. The exaggerated gestures and bold pronouncements made it very easy to lip read even during the height of the action. The material Kiske had made the visors of the team's helmets from rendered spirits plainly visible,and Don Kanonji had sprung for some for his camera equipment. Loki was curled up at my feet while Sloth and I snuggled on the couch watching the show.

Suddenly, I leapt to my feet, startling both Loki and Sloth.

"What's wrong?" asked Sloth.

"It's Rukia," I said. "She's in a fight with someone I can't sense. It's a tough one."

"Let's go," said Sloth, transforming into her magical girl uniform.

I took her hand and apparted to Rukia's spirit energy. I'd come a bit too close. Sloth and I were flash frozen in a pillar of ice by Rukia's shikai. My spirit energy protected me from direct injury from the cold, and the added durability Sloth enjoyed in her magical girl form did likewise. Familiar with Rukia's technique, we both used Zaelaparo's intangibility devices to step out of the column of ice before it shattered.

Rukia's zanpakto was a deceptively beautiful one. This technique flash froze the target and encased them in a tall pillar of ice. When the ice cracked, that put mechanical pressure on the flesh that had already been weakened and made brittle by the freezing process. It bisected, decapitated, or dismembered its victim without the mess of spilling a single drop of blood. It did not typically involve explosions.

Sloth and I were slammed into the ground as dozens of bombs that had been caught inside Rukia's ice pillar detonated. Rukia hadn't landed far from us.

"Greed? Sloth? What are you doing here?" she asked as she got to her feet.

"I sensed your spiritual pressure and figured anyone who has you fighting this hard without me being able to sense their spiritual pressure's got to be bad news," I said.

My searching eyes finally caught sight of the enemy. He was hovering in midair through the use of wings rather than some variant of shunpo or soinido. He wore a black cloak buckled closed down the front of his body and a whit mask that I initially mistook for a hollow mask. I realized my mistake when I noticed this mask had no mouth or equivalent structure, and hollows are defined by their need to feed.

"Be careful," said Rukia. "I don't know how it's possible, but this creature is the Shrieker."

"Shrieker?" I asked confused.

"You don't remember me? I'm insulted," declared the enemy in a voice I'd never heard before. "Why don't I help jog your memory?"

Frog like creatures dropped out from beneath his cloak, split open, and sprayed a shower of leaches at us. I held out a palm and cast a quick knockback jinx, causing the leaches to fly back at the Shrieker as he extended a tuning fork shaped tongue and ued a sonic trigger to detonate the explosive leaches.

"Wait, is this that first hollow I helped you guys fight?" I asked. "Didn't Ichigo send you to hell?"

Dusting hmself off from his leach bombs exploding in his face, the Shrieker declared, "That's right. And now I've clawed my way back out of hell seeking revenge on those who sent me there."

Sloth threw a yo-yo at his head, but he blocked it with a chain that was embedded in his wrist and which had a number of additional links beyond the short length we could see that were invisible.

"The chains of hell that bind Sinners cannot be broken by those such as you," declared the Shrieker.

"Why would I break them?" asked Sloth with a smirk. "They're your weakness." Flashing behind the creaure, Sloth yanked off his mask and cloak, revealing the much further mutated form of the bizzare, birdlike hollow. His mask and hollow hole were gone, and his body was covered in bandages. Behind him, the gates of hell appeared.

"Without this cloak and mask to hide you from the Kushanada, they can grab hold of your chains and drag you back where you belong." As Sloth spoke, the gates opened and the Shrieker was indeed dragged back by his chains only to be impaled on the blade that extended out of the gate to greet him. The Shrieker dissolved with his pieces falling back inside the gate as it closed and vanished.

"How did you know to do that?" asked Rukia.

"I read his mind," said sloth with a shrug. "I don't do it more often because it's impolite, but I figure a deranged, undead serial killer doesn't merit much courtesy."

Renji arrived on the scene, asking, "Were those the gates of hell? What happened?"

"A Sinner managed to escape from hell," said Rukia. "We need to go back to the Soul Society and report this immediately."

"We'll let the others know what's going on," I said. "Make sure everyone's ready to deal with more escapees."

* * *

"What exactly is hell?" asked Sloth once we'd gotten back home nad I was looking over the cloak in my lab.

"Mayuri's database has nothing on it, and the library I assimilated had only vague information," I said. "It's against the law to interfere with the operation of hell, so if it's been studied in any kind of depth, those records are hidden or classified."

"Can you explain what you do know?" prompted Sloth.

"Okay, you've seen the gate."

"Easily the second most impressive gate I've seen."

"The gate only opens for those who've committed terrible crimes. The Shieker was a serial killer before he became a hollow, and you've met Mayuri and Zaelaparo."

"Who sets the standards?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "Every reference I have to the gates opening when a hollow is killed off refer to their appearance as a deficiency in the zanpakto, saying it can 'only' cleanse a soul of sins committed as a hollow, which suggests that before the modern zanpakto was created, hollows usually went to hell as punishment for eating souls."

"What sort of punishment?"

"That's another one we don't know much about. It's said to be eternal tough, suggesting souls that go there are forever removed from the reincarnation cycle. That would also mean it's not capable of gravitational interaction with the living world or the Soul Society, or the balance problem that came up with the quincies would apply doubly to hell."

"What are the Kushanada?" asked Sloth. "The Shrieker was terrified of them."

"They're the gatekeepers of hell," I replied. "They reach out to collect souls and as we've just learned, they drag back escapees. Based on that hand, they're obviously gigantic beings, which is about all I can say about their appearance."

"That isn't much information," said Sloth.

"The kido corps are the ones who have the most dealings with hell. Maybe Tessai or Hadji can tell us more," I suggested.

"Given that our enemies will be making their move tomorrow, I'd say this is urgent enough to justify getting them out of bed," noted Sloth.

* * *

Urahara's shop was empty, with a sign on the door saying everyone had gone on a company vacation. Fortunately, the visoreds' warehouse was still occupied. When Sloth and I passed through the barrier now kept up out of habit more so than any real need, the visoreds were alerted and roused.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" asked Shinji yawning.

"I'm sorry," I said, "but we just got through fighting a Sinner."

"A Sinner in the world of the living?" asked Hadji with concern. The others all snapped to full alertness.

"He was using this clothing to hide form the Kushanada's detection," said Sloth, handing over the cloak and mask.

"This isn't good," said Hadji. "If the Sinners have found a way to sneak out of hell and avoid the Kushinada, not only will they be free to cause harm in the living world, but their presence might compel the Kushanada to leave hell and search for them."

"What can you tell us about hell?" I asked.

"Actually, this sounds like it's gonna be a long explanation," said Shinji. "We should probably get something to drink and sit down."

"I'll go put the coffee on," volunteered Love.

"I can brew it quicker using alchemy," I offered.

"No one wants your garbage water," said Hyori.

"This probably isn't the time for a fight, Greed," said Rose. "Let's just let Love get the coffee."

"I wasn't the one picking a fight," I said, "but fine."

Fortunately, Hadji didn't wait for the coffee before he started explaining.

"The kido corps is tasked with maintaining the seals on the gates of hell. Without maintenance, those seals can weaken allowing cracks to form and Sinners to escape. On rare occasions, it is necessary for a soul reaper to enter hell to observe the damage from the other side. There are specialized kido that can be used to get in and out, which are a carefully kept secret.

"The Sinners are bound in chains that bind them to hell. When a Sinner dies, he is immediately revived in hell. Thus are they removed from the cycle of reincarnation. Hell is a trap. Anyone who dies there will be bound in chains as a Sinner, unable to leave."

"Even innocent people?" I asked appalled. "I thought hell was about justice, and ensuring the guilty are punished for their crimes."

With a sad smile, Hadji said, "Hell is a place of eternal suffering. Is there any crime a person could commit in a lifetime that would make them truly deserving of suffering forever? For a thousand lifetimes? For a million?"

"What sort of suffering are we talking about here?" asked Lisa.

"For a start, the atmosphere is mildly toxic," said Hadji. "Anyone with appreciable spirit energy can tolerate it, but it will kill most anyone else in hours. For those with the power to survive the air, the Kushanada make sport of hunting them down and devouring them."

"Are the Kushanada like hollows?" asked Mashiro. "With the swords, I always thought they'd be more like soul reapers."

"Because we've never seen anything that straddles the line between the two before," drawled Kensai.

"That was mean, Kensai," whined Mashiro.

"The Kushanada are nothing like soul reapers or hollows," said Hadji. "Soul reapers and hollows are both derived from human souls. However corrupted a hollow might be, it thinks and acts in a way humans can make sense of. Kushanada are far more alien than that. They don't eat or sleep, and spend every moment dedicated to their twin tasks of gathering and punishing Sinners. Hollows eat souls for their spirit energy. Kushanada do it so the soul will suffer.

"In appearance, they're all identical. Only vaguely humanoid, they have long arms and walk slouched over like a gorilla. Their heads resemble skulls that have been stretched out and lack a lower jaw."

"Identical appearance, alien mindset, inhumanly dedicated to a job that involves human suffering," summarized Sloth. "I don't think I like these things."

"There has to be some reason the Soul Society hasn't declared war on these things," said Shinji. "What is it?"

"It's because the Kushanada are too powerful to defeat," said Hadji.

"You're saying the soul reapers wussed out?" asked Hyori disbelievingly.

"You recall why the hogyoku was created," said Hadji. "Without hollowfication, a normal soul can only grow so strong. The harsh conditions in hell and repeated deaths ensure every Sinner with even the smallest amount of spirit energy rapidly reaches that strength limit. Within the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, only the captains approach this limit."

"So, the Kushanada are strong enough to manage a prison dimension full of captain class inmates," I said.

"A mass breakout of Sinners would be apocalyptic even before you include the Kushanada coming to hunt them down," said Shinji whistling.

"I'd say that was worth getting us out of bed this late," said Love.

"Does the Soul Society know about the Sinner?" asked Lisa.

I nodded. "Rukia was there for the fight. Renji showed up right after. They went to report in right away."

"I guess that means we should take down the barrier for a few days," said Shinji.

"Why would we do that?" yelled Hyori. "If the Sinners are breaking out, that's more reason to have the barrier up, you idiot."

"Hyori, shut up," snapped Shinji. "The situation with hell is in the old man's hands now. He wont' want to come crawling to us for help, so if the Soul Society can handle this on their own, they will. If it turns out they can't, I'd personally rather they were able to come ask for our help instead of waiting until the Sinners and Kushanada become our problem alone."

"Hopefully, now that they've been alerted to the breach, the kido corps will be able to repair the seals without any further escapes," said Hadji.

"Yeah, like we're that lucky," said Lisa sarcastically.

* * *

The next morning, on the way to school, a scaffold that had been set up to make repairs on the building gave way. We managed to keep anyone from getting hurt by falling debris. I couldn't sense any foreign spirit energy, but with the Sinners' cloaks in play, I wouldn't expect to.

Sloth telepathically filled in the others about the situation. Things stayed quiet durring the school day. After classes let out, Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Sloth, and I decided to take another look at the collapsed scaffold. Uryu was able to detect a faint trace of spiritual pressure that didn't match soul reaper, hollow, or any of the beings we'd dealt with so far.

While we were discussing it, an explosion went off in the school. More specifically, it went off in the classroom where our other friends had been hanging around. We quickly leapt in through the newly opened hole in the wall, Ichigo leaving his body on the ground level.

Wearing the same type of cloak and mask as the Shrieker was an extremely fat Sinner. No one was dead, but everyone that had been in the room was injured and unconscious. Chad and Ichigo blasted the Sinner out of the building with a getsuga tensho and an El Directo. Uryu fired an arrow at the Sinner's mask, but he harmlessly absorbed the energy. None of the attacks did any damage to him or his cloak, but they did force him out into the open and away from the injured.

I cast a temporal stasis kido to keep our friends' injuries from getting worse until we dealt with the Sinner and had time to focus on healing them. Then I followed the others outside after the Sinner. Two more Sinners were waiting in ambush. One was enormous with arms the size of naval canons. The other was human sized and wielded a massive spiked polearm.

Orihime destroyed the weapon as he took a swing for Ichigo. Chad and Uryuu kept the other two occupied while Sloth transformed and Ichigo went bankai. I released my limiters as I joined the fray.

"It's a distraction!" shouted Sloth suddenly. "The others are at Ichigo's house! They're after Karin and Yuzu!"

I grabbed Ichigo by the shoulder and said, "The others can deal with these guys." Then I apparated to Ichigo's house, taking him side along.

Ichigo launched himself into the sky the instant we appeared. Karin and Yuzu were unconscious and being held in the tentacles this Sinner used for arms. Rukia was already on the scene with her zanpakto drawn, facing down both the Sinner that had taken Ichigo's sisters and a second, more humanoid Sinner.

While Ichigo rushed him head on, I drew my wand and apparated behind the tentacled Sinner, screaming, "Relashio!" The second Sinner intercepted Ichigo, conjuring a blade of fire to block Ichigo's zanpakto. The one with tentacles was forced to drop the girls by my spell. He struck me hard in the face before launching himself after the girls.

I was momentarily staggered by the blow, but Rukia managed to flash step below and catch the girls. I started to call out the spell to vanish the Sinner's cloaks when a jet of flame came in at me from left field and turned my wand to ashes. Ichigo managed to re-engage his opponent while I used my combat pass to separate my homunculus and visored selves and thus gain access to my zanpakto.

Rukia prepared to flash step away form the tentacled Sinner with the girls, but a portal opened up directly in front of her. It resembled a garganta, only wreathed in flames, and instead of darkness beyond, we could see crimson light and chains. Rukia's pause gave the tentacled Sinner an opening to deliver an axe kick to the center of Rukia's back as he dropped down. He caught Karin and Yuzu when RUkia lost her grip, then stepped through the portal into hell with them.

Ichigo screamed and rushed the portal, using every bit of speed his bankai could give him to reach it before it closed, heedless of the damage it did to his body. He rushed past the flame using Sinner like he was standing still, but it wouldn't be fast enough to reach them before the portal closed. Suddenly, the escaping Sinner was struck from behind by another Sinner coming out of hell.

The new Sinner wasn't wearing the mask and cloak the others wore. He looked human, wore loose white clothes, and had half of his face covered in bandages. He cut off the tentacle holding Karin wit a black sword and grabbed her as he tackled the other Sinner out of hell. The portal closed with no one on hell's side of it.

The Sinner tossed Karin to me and moved to help Ichigo against the others. flash stepped into the mansion next door to the Kurosaki clinic that was protected by the fideleous charm and dropped off Karin there. When I returned, the portal to hell was again open and the tentacled Sinner was trying to escape through it with Yuzu.

Rukia used her zanpakto to put up a wall of ice in front of the portal, but the fire using Sinner melted it away to facilitate his comrade's escape. Neither Ichigo, nor the unmasked Sinner could reach them before the portal closed this time. His mission accomplished, the fire using Sinner disappeared. His voice lingered.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, we are Sinners trapped in hell. If you want your sister returned to you unharmed, we require your assistance. We have but one wish: to be released from hell. Unfortunately for us, in order to do that, we need your help. Destroy the gates of hell, Ichigo Kurosaki. Do that for us, and we will return your sister."

"Stupefy," I said, firing a red stunning hex from the tip of my zanpakto into the back of the Sinner with the bandaged face who'd been helping us.

"Why'd you do that? I had questions for him," said IChigo, catching the unconscious Sinner by his shirt.

Clapping spirit energy sealing manacles on the Sinner's wrists, I said, "You don't perform an interrogation while the subject is still armed." I pulled the bandages aside and confirmed this was the man with burns covering the right side of his face from my foeglass. "He was trying to play us. He was in on it."

Renji, Uryu, Chad, Sloth, and Orihime arrived. I returned to my homunculus body and we all went into Ichigo's house to compare notes and figure out our next move. Cammy, the cat Sloth had revived for Yuzu, was dead again, no doubt killed trying to protect the girls. Orihime healed it as we tied the Sinner to a chair.

The injured at the school had been left in stasis in an effort by the others to get here in time to make a difference. The Sinners there had retreated to hell shortly after I apparated away with Ichigo. As all the injuries were physical, Sloth and I would be leaving our homunculus selves in the world of the living to heal them with alchemy while our spiritual selves would be joining the others in storming hell to get Yuzu back.

"Ennervate," I said, jabbing my wand that had been repaired with space time reversion kido into the unconscious Sinner's chest. He snapped away, confused and disoriented.

Recovering quickly, he smiled and said, "What is this? Are you really going to try and torture a Sinner from hell?"

"Torture?" I asked. "I'd never resort to such a crude, unreliable means of acquiring information. Not when three drops of veritasyrum will make you tell me anything I want to know." Forcing open his jaw, I administered the potion truth potion.

"My name is Kokto. When I was alive, my sister was murdered. I found the people that did it, and what I did to them earned me a place in hell.

"As part of the torture, whenever we die and are revived, we Sinners are granted brief visions of the worlds outside hell, to put our own situation in context. By coincidence, I happened to revive when you, Ichigo Kurosaki, battled the espada Ulquiora. I saw him release his second resureccion, what he called segunda etapa. And I saw you effortlessly crush him with your own hollow form. I knew you were the key to finally escaping hell for good."

"Me?" asked Ichigo.

Kokto nodded. "Your cero in that form is strong enough to break the chains that bind us to hell. Without those chains, the Kushanada can't drag us back to hell whenever we escape."

"Why did the other Sinners tell Ichigo to destroy the gates of hell and not their chains?" asked Uryu.

"Because they're idiots who can't figure out what's really holding them. Still, they were useful idiots. All I had to do was tell them about you, Ichigo, and they cooked up this plan to kidnap your sisters and make you destroy the gates. I'd planned to rush in, gallantly aid you in your time of need, and convince you to break my chains."

"Where have they taken Yuzu?" demanded Ichigo, practically frothing at the mouth with rage.

"Their base is on the lowest level of hell," shrugged Kokto. "It's conveniently located near the lava pit where we're revived after being killed. Any members of their gang you kill on the way down will be there bolstering the ranks at their base when you get there."

"I'll get more detailed directions. Legelimens!" Images from Kokto's mind flashed in front of my vision. I saw the path along streets between white, cube shaped buildings, downward to an ocean with Kushanada corpses floating in stone bowls like lilly pads, through the bottom of that ocean to a blackened landscape scarred with pits of yellow acid, across a desert of ground bone, and finally to the lava pits where the enemy dwelled.

"Have you got it?" asked Chad when I broke eye contact.

"I have," I said. Then in a single, fluid motion, I raised my left arm, formed a bow of blue light, drew it, and released an arrow into Kokto's face. His body dissolved in seconds.

"I trust you had a reason for doing that," said Rukia.

"We aren't holding him prisoner, and sending him back to hell would give him a chance to interfere with our rescue or try something like this again," I said. "In face, you know how we usually try to give the finishing blows against hollows to a zanpakto? I think this situation calls for us to invert that and try to give the finishing blows against Sinners to an arrow."

"All right," said Ichigo, his eyes hard. "Now, how are we going to get into hell with him dead?"

"Hadji knows the kido soul reapers use to get in and out of hell," said Sloth. "Everyone put on your invisibility cloaks."

"Why?" asked Ichigo confused.

"Because we aren't leaving Yuzu in hell a second longer than we have to," said Sloth. "We're going back in time so we can be waiting for them in hell, ready to grab Yuzu the instant the portal closes behind her."

"Why can't we go back before they took her in the first place?" said Ichigo.

"You can't use time travel to change the past," said Sloth. "If you could, Greed and I never would have come to this world because he could have gone back in time and prevented me from becoming a witch. One thing you can use time travel for is making sure people who seem to be getting away run into a perfect ambush the instant they're out of your past self's sight."

* * *

Author's comments:  
The mechanics of hell as depicted in the Hell Verse movie were interesting, and informed my decision to make the quincy arrow the only quincy technique that was truly soul destroying. With Kokto's plan derailed, our heroes will be free to explore some of the more interesting implications of a visit to hell this time.


	58. Chapter 66: To Hell and Back

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 66) To Hell and Back  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

A few hours before, our party arrived in the visoreds' warehouse. The cloaks prevented our past selves from sensing our spirit energy. After a quick explanation, Hadji got to work on the necessary spells to get us to hell.

"So, it's not a mass breakout that's going to turn into the end of the world," said Shinji when the explanations were complete. "That's good. The end of the world thing was getting repetitive. Even so, we can't have Sinners going after friends and family.

"Lisa, Love, Mashiro, Hyori, I need the four of you to find whoever the Soul Society sends to seal up the crack in the gate. Don't let them do anything until Yuzu's safe. Kensai, Hadji, Rose, what do you say we come along to back up our newest allies?"

Sloth's and my homunculus selves headed out to the school under invisibility cloaks while our spirits joined the others stepping into the portal to hell Hadji opened. As the goggles had been a specific countermeasure against Aizen, I had removed them from my uniform after his death. I'd recast my conditional bubble head charm on my collar, which activated as the portal opened, shielding me from the toxic atmosphere of hell.

An invisibility spell blanketed the dozen of us who'd come to rescue Yuzu as we stood in the sky of hell to wait for our moment. Below our feet, a vast city of the damned stretched from horizon to horizon. Bright blue streets and white, cubical buildings were arranged in a grid. The Kushanada rampaged among the Sinners, grabbing them up and devouring them as they screamed in terror and agony. Their rampages did nothing to damage the streets and buildings, because they were able to effortlessly phase through the spiritual matter of hell.

This place was an atrocity worse than I'd damned Mayuri for. I wanted to tear it down to its foundations.

"So let's do it," came Araña's voice welling up from the depths of my soul. "You heard what Hadji said. "The Kushanada stay in power here because they're beyond a normal soul's strength limit. Hollowfication means we don't have that built in limit. Here in hell, we can go against them again and again until all that fighting makes us strong enough to win."

"We're here to rescue Yuzu," I reminded myself as I felt my mask forming.

"Is anyone else's hollow acting up?" asked Kensai.

"Yours too?" I asked.

"It's this place," said Hadji. "It strengthens your instincts, which for those of us with hollow powers means bringing them to the surface."

"You couldn't have told us that before we left?" demanded Shinji.

"I haven't been here since the incident," said Hadji. "I had no idea it would be this pronounced."

"This is sounding more dangerous by the minute," said Uryu. "Maybe you should go back and leave this to the rest of us."

"No," said Ichigo in a tone that brooked no disagreement. "I'm not going anywhere without Yuzu."

"Look. Here they come," said Rose as the flaming portal opened.

We fell silent so as not to lose the element of surprise. First came the three that attacked the school. A minute later, the tentacled Sinner came in carrying Karin and Yuzu. Kokto shot from the city below like a bullet, pulling the three of them back into the world of the living. Finally, the two remaining Sinners arrived carrying Yuzu, who was still unconscious.

When the last flame from the portal flickered out, we took that as our signal to strike. The black arc of a getsuga tensho from Ichigo's bankai severed the tentacle holding Yuzu, and her big brother was there to catch her. The Sinner tried to counterattack, but found his remaining tentacles blocked by Orihime's shield.

Kensai activated his bankai, which took the form of a pair of gauntlets bound together by a thick sash across his back. Together with Chad, he engaged the largest of the Sinners. The Sinner had the ability to launch his arms, leaving them connected to his body by a thin cord. He used that power to attack Chad, who's right arm proved an effective defense. I moved in and cut that cord with my sealed zanpakto, preventing him from retrieving his arm.

Sloth and Rose double teamed the Sinner with the heavy polearm. Sloth tied up his weapon with her yo-yo strings and Ros used the released form of his zanpakto, a golden whip, to bind the Sinner's arms at his sides.

Rukia matched the ice of her zanpakto against the flames of her opponent. The Sinner's raw power overwhelmed her, but doing so distracted him long enough to let Hadji seal him inside a cube shaped barrier.

Renji's bankai closed its jaws around the fat Sinner who'd been absorbing Uryu's barrage of arrows. A crimson blast from the giant bone serpent sent the obese Sinner flying out of his cloak, which remained stuck in the snake's teeth. Without the cloak, we could see him create a grotesque mouth on his body to consume the blast.

"I was saving this up to use against Soske," said Shinji, releasing his zanpakto and spinning it by the large ring that was now on the pommel of his sword. "With him dead, I suppose there's no harm showing off what my zanpakto can do."

Suddenly, the Sinners were all over the place. They were swinging wildly, dodging right into our attacks, and flailing to regroup after our initial strike. Uryu struck the Sinner rose had tied up with enough arrows to disintegrate him, then blew away the one armed Sinner Chad and Kensai had pinned.

"What's going on?" demanded the tentacled Sinner, ripping away his cloak in the vain hope it would improve the situation.

Shinji confidently explained, "My zanpakto has the ability to reverse your senses. Up is down. Left is right. Front is back. Knowing what's happening to you won't help you. It's impossible to fight while reversing everything in your mind."

The fat Sinner went down after opening a mouth on the wrong side of his body to eat Uryu's arrows. Hadji, Rukia, and I threw a variety of binding spells at the tentacled Sinner which held him in place for Uryu's attack.

While we were doing that, the final Sinner dropped his cloak and fired two blasts of concentrated fire in opposite directions. His blasts shattered Hadji's barrier, with one of them continuing on straight at Ichigo. The suddenness of the move meant Orihime's shield came up a split second too late. Ichigo turned his back to shield Yuzu with his body.

Despite Ichigo's best efforts, Yuzu wasn't completely shielded from the flames. Between the already harmful air and the partially deflected blast strong enough to singe Ichigo's coat, Yuzu wasn't breathing. The Sinner cackled in triumph.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, by dying in hell, your sister is now a prisoner of the Kushanada! If you want her back, you have no choice! Destroy the gates of hell and release the Sinners into the world!"

He'd killed Ichigo's sister while he cradled her in his arms. The rage in Ichigo's roar threw us all a pace backward before his spiritual pressure crushed the air out of our lungs. His mask formed. Horns twisted into place in front. A hole burst open in his chest and poured out white liquid which covered Ichigo's flesh. Against Ulquiora, Ichigo had been drained and exhausted before he took on this form and crushed the fourth espada in his second stage resureccion. This time, he was starting out at full strength.

A crimson cero charged between his horns and fired directly at his sister's murderer. The Sinner tried to block with the neigh indestructible chains that bound him. The chains disintegrated under the force of Ichigo's cero a fraction of a second before the Sinner's body did likewise. The cero continued on, impacting the dome of the sky with enough power to blast open a hole, through which the night sky of the world of the living was visible.

Those of us with masks put them on to deal with the spiritual pressure Ichigo was putting out. The other four each grabbed a limb to restrain him while I went for his mask. Ichigo discharged a second cero aimed at me, but I was ready for it. Using the cero doble technique I'd learned from Nel, I swallowed Ichigo's cero and regurgitated it right back in his face, mixed with my own cero for good measure. The resulting attack shattered his mask and caused his body to revert.

"We have to get him out before he does more damage to the gates," called Hadji as he activated a kido to pull Ichigo and those restraining him out of hell along with Yuzu's corpse which was still clutched protectively in his left arm.

"What do we do now?" asked Orihime.

"What else can we do?" said Renji. "We fight our way to the deepest level of hell and get Yuzu's soul back."

Rukia nodded. "The damage Ichigo did to the gate was significant, but between the visoreds, the kido corps, and reinforcements from the Soul Society, the breach will be protected until it can be sealed."

As one, our group turned to face down and made for the city below.

"What happened to the Sinner that did it?" asked Chad. "His chains broke before he died. Does that mean he's free to reenter the reincarnation cycle like he wanted."

"No," I said as we touched down on the street. "He still died in hell, which means he's got a new set of chains just like Yuzu."

We had to flash step to avoid a Kushanada who tried to flatten us under an enormous hand. Chad spun and fired a blast at the creature's face, but it wasn't enough to make the enormous monster flinch. I cast a quick spell to summon a cloud of spiritually active red smoke to obscure the Kushanada's vision, which allowed us to slip away from it. Once we were away form the Kushanada, I led what remained of our party to a place I'd seen in Kokto's mind where we could go farther down.

"This way," I said, leaping off the edge. The echoing tones of my voice reminded me I still had my mask on. Rather than dismiss it completely, I slid it off my face and up onto the top of my head where it'd be ready if I needed it.

The next level down was exactly as Kokto's memories indicated, a massive ocean with Kushanada graves dotted like lily pads. Uryu suddenly tensed and broke off from the group. We followed him to the stone lip of one of the massive bowls that contained a Kushanada corpse. Picking his way through the bones was none other than Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

Without his makeup, Mayuri was almost unrecognizable, but his cone shaped ear implants were very distinctive. Chains protruded from his neck, wrists, and chest. The former captain of the twelfth division looked as content as I'd seen him.

"Greed, was it?" said Mayuri recognizing me. "I should thank you for sending me here."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"As a soul reaper captain, I had to answer to the head captain and obey the restrictions placed on me by Central 46. In hell, there's no one to tell me what I can and can't research, and I don't have to be so careful when vivisecting my research subjects since they come right back to life."

"So you're saying hell hasn't really been a punishment for you at all," said Uryu with a cold fury in his voice. "The clone you left in the Soul Society isn't a threat to anyone anymore. His actions have been so circumscribed by supernaturally binding contracts that he's suffering much worse than you."

"How wonderful," said Mayuri. "Not only have I avoided that fate, but now that I've been freed from needing to answer to the head captain, the interesting research subjects I wasn't able to dissect have delivered themselves to me."

"It is fortunate," said Uryu. "I can finally get my revenge for what you did to my grandfather." Turning to the rest of us, Uryu said, "Go on without me. I'll catch up when this is over."

"Good luck, Uryu," I said, jumping into the water with the others close behind me.

When we burst out from the bottom of the ocean and landed in the blackened landscape below, we took care to avoid the bright yellow acid pits. Looking over our dwindling party, I saw something concerning.

"Sloth, your Soul Gem's almost black!"

"What?" she asked, pulling off her crown and looking at the crystal set in its front. "I haven't used that much magic." She took out a Grief Seed to clean her Soul Gem, but the Grief Seed was itself almost full.

"Hell is a place of suffering and despair," said Rukia. "Your crystals must be absorbing the ambient grief that fills the air."

"We have to destroy the Grief Seeds before they hatch into witches," said Sloth, emptying her pockets. "Orihime, can you clean my Soul Gem?"

Orihime snapped a healing shield over Sloth's Soul Gem while I sliced the Grief Seeds from both of our pockets in half with my zanpakto. The Grief Seeds shattered and dissolved.

"Are you going to be able to make it the rest of the way and back?" asked Chad.

"I have an idea for keeping the ambient grief out of my Soul Gem," said Sloth, taking out a golden rod capped with a red crystal. Charged with her magic, this altered wand allowed Sloth to make use of the magic she'd studied in Hogwarts.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"I've been experimenting," said Sloth with a smirk. "I originally hoped I'd be able to use this spell to clean my Soul Gem without Grief Seeds. It didn't work out, but I did learn it could block the transfer of Grief from a Soul Gem to a Grief Seed. It should protect me from hell. Expecto patronum!"

A ball of silver light burst from her wand and shot under Orihime's healing shield where it landed on top of Sloth's Soul Gem, unfolding eight legs to secure its perch. I smiled at the sight of her spider patronus. Orihime finished cleansing Sloth's Soul Gem, and Sloth put the crown back on, the patronus clinging to the bright crimson Soul Gem.

"Hopefully that'll do the trick," said Renji. "Which way do we go from here?"

"This way," I said, setting out in the direction of the desert with a flash step.

The stop to clean Sloth's Soul Gem took longer than crossing the desert. Finally, we approached the lava pits and the cave the Sinners who'd come to the world of the living used for a base. The final Sinner was waiting for us. Yuzu was locked in a cage suspended over the lava.

"Chad, Renji, and I'll distract the Sinner," said Rukia. "Sloth, Orihime and I need you to see if you can release Yuzu from the chains of hell with your powers. Greed, once Yuzu's free, grab her and teleport her back up to the breach Ichigo made with that cero."

We nodded. A wave of ice from Rukia's shikai, a blast of red spirit energy from Renji's bankai, and a blast of blue spirit energy from Chad's armored right arm struck the Sinner simultaneously as our opening move. The Sinner was too tough to be killed outright by the combined attack and countered with a blast of flames that all three needed flash step to dodge.

Orihime, Sloth, and I were inside the cage with Yuzu. Orihime tried first, attempting to reject hell's chains with her healing shield. Her healing powers failed.

"I can't do it," said Orihime. "Sloth, can you free her?"

"Maybe," said Sloth, "but it might just heal her burned lungs and wake her up. I should try it in the world of the living instead of here in hell. Try Tsubaki."

"Tsubaki?" asked Orihime.

"You get in trouble when you try to use Tsubaki as a sword," said Sloth. "This situation calls for a scalpel. Break Yuzu's chains wiht Tusbaki and then we should be able to heal her normally."

"I'll try," said Orihime.

The lone rika that represented Orihime's offensive power streaked at Yuzu, slicing through the chains of hell like they were nothing. Once severed, the chains crumbled away to nothingness. Of course, if she died again before we got her out, she'd get a new set of chains. I grabbed Yuzu and apparated.

The breach had drawn the attention of the Kushanada. Five of them were crowded around the hole Ichigo had blasted in the sky. I'd appeared as close to the hole as possible, which was right in between the guardians. On the other side of the breach, I saw Ichigo and the visoreds tensely facing Head Captain Yamamoto, the kido corps, and half a dozen more captains and lieutenants.

"Ichigo, take Yuzu," I called out, throwing the girl's soul through the breach.

That was when I was stabbed from behind by one of the Kushanadas' blades. I saw Ichigo catch Yuzu before my spiritual body was dissolved and my vision went dark.

* * *

I awoke in agony. A bubble of molten lava had popped, depositing me naked onto a slab of obsidian barely cool enough to retain a solid form. My lungs were filled with volcanic ash and toxic gas that burned all the way down. A wave of flames ran up my body, and when they passed, I was clothed in loose fitting white pants, and a vest tucked into a cloth sash tied around my waist. I was still barefoot as I scrambled to my feet on the hot stone and looked around.

This was the same lava pit we'd been fighting to get Yuzu back over. The cave that had been the Sinners' base was visible nearby. No one but me was anywhere to be seen.

I reached for my waist and in a flare of bright blue spirit energy, my zanpakto appeared there. My wrists, ankles, neck, and chest all had chains embedded in them. I could feel my spirit energy, intact, and a bit stronger from having died to the Kushanada's blade.

Not sure how long I'd been out of commission, I apparated to the breach. The breach had been sealed and the sky was now back to being a smooth, uniform dome of crimson light. I dropped down to the city to look for some sign of how long it had been.

Most of the Sinners I encountered were broken, barely coherent shells. They'd suffered so much for so long ith so little hope of things ever getting better that they'd shut down, closed themselves off from the world in an effort to shut out the pain. The few Sinners coherent enough to answer my questions were unable to recall a time when the sky had been torn open, suggesting I'd been out of it for a very long time indeed.

I found a quiet spot in one of the white, block shaped buildings and sat down to meditate and think about my next move. The avatars of my power had thoughts to offer on how to proceed.

"There has to be some way of knowing how long I've been out," I opened. "If I can time turn back to when we were together here, Orihime can cut my chains like she did for Yuzu."

"Why bother?" asked Araña. "You saw Ichigo blast apart hell chains and blow open the gates with a cero. Just stay here until you're strong enough to do that yourself."

"This is an opportunity," agreed Tsumi no Rensa. "If you're going to go back in time anyway, there's no rush. You could kill everyone in hell and add them to your bankai even as you build up your spirit energy enough that you'll be able to summon them."

"It's likely you have little to fear from Yhwach," noted Vaccine. "We've almost certainly past the point where he will have awakened, so he has either been killed by our plan or he has achieved his ambitions. Either way, you are unlikely to be targeted for Auswalen."

"If I'm going to stay here to gain power, there's little point stopping until hell is destroyed," I said. "In the meantime, I need to make a new quincy cross. We'll put Sinners out of their misery as we go."

"You can't transfigure silver, but you can transfigure the equipment you need to extract it from ore," said Vaccine. "We should be bale to find what we need on the lowest level."

"Meanwhile, I suppose I can move in to that gang's old hideout by the lava pits," I said.

With the beginnings of a plan in mind, I returned to the cave, which I found occupied by a new group of Sinners.

"How did you do that?" asked the first of three Sinners, a woman with stringy black hair.

"Do what?" I asked.

"You disappeared then reappeared without coming out of the lava," clarified a second Sinner, this one a squat, balding man.

"It's called apparition," I said.

"He has spirit energy," noted the final Sinner, a tall man with a ponytail.

"And none of you do,"I replied.

"We'll go," said the Sinner with the ponytail. "The cave's all yours. If you kill us, we'll just revive right back here, so it'll be faster if you just let us go."

"Are you happy here?" I asked. "Is life in hell a life worth living?"

"What do you mean?" asked the squat Sinner.

"What if I told you I have the power to kill you in a way that you can't be revived from? That I could make your deaths stick? Would you want that?"

"I don't think there's anyone in hell that wouldn't want that," said the woman.

"And what if I told you there was a catch?" I said. "That even though your souls would be utterly destroyed, I would gain the power to summon you to do my bidding?"

"It'd be no worse than our current lot," said the man with the ponytail. "No better either, since you're stuck in hell too, so when we were summoned, we'd be right back here."

"And if I promised not to summon anyone until I leave hell?" I pressed.

The woman laughed and said, "How are you going to manage that?"

"If I can't, then no one gets summoned," I said simply.

"I think you're just fucking with us,." said the Sinner with the ponytail.

"Stick around and I'll prove it," I said, then I began conjuring equipment.

To be an effective alchemist requires training in geology and chemistry. It took me three days to locate the silver I needed and refine it from the ore. Using the lava pits as a heat source and a transfigured mold, I forged a five armed quincy cross. The secrets Soken had shared allowed me to infuse the cross with spirit energy in a way that made the small object indestructible. I attached it to my left wrist using a more conventional chain.

While I worked, a few things became apparent tome. First, there was no food in hell, and barring listening to Araña's suggestion that I eat the other Sinners, I could look forward to a slow death by starvation. The Sinners staying at the cave thought that one's spirit energy is full when revived, but testing that could wait.

"So, now that you've finished that thing, what are you going to do with it?" asked the Sinner with the pony tail.

In response, I formed a bow and fired an arrow into his chest. His soul dissolved to nothing. The others turned to the lava pit. After a few minutes of waiting, they turned back to me. I was getting looks of awe.

"I want you to go spread the word," I said. "If you don't have any spirit energy, I'll destroy your soul with no more than the conditions I've laid out. If you do have spirit energy, I'll destroy your soul only if you can kill me at least once. When the pilgrims start arriving, I'll consider your task complete and give you the release you seek."

* * *

I didn't have to wait long. Within a week, the first pilgrims arrived. Within two weeks, long before starvation would have set in, the first pilgrims with spirit energy came. It turned out dying really did top off my store of spirit energy.

I began each fight in my resureccion form wtih my shikai released. If they died instead of me, I ended my resureccion and let them try again. If I won again, I removed my mask. Again, and I fought with my sword sealed instead of my shikai. Again, and I sheathed my sword and engaged them hand to hand.

The process was intended to allow my spirit energy to grow as quickly as possible by regularly exposing my soul to the risk of destruction. It worked very well indeed. In days, I found that no Sinner could challenge me in resureccion, and I started subsequent battles with only my mask. After a week, using my mask was too much for them to stand a chance. By the end of the month, my spirit energy had grown so much that even fighting hand to hand hey needed to come at me in groups to pull off a win.

Ran Tao's treatment meant that without food, I slept twelve hours a night and was unable to wake up during that time. A few enterprising Sinners took advantage of this weakness to attack while I was helpless, or even haul me out to the lava pit. Since the near death experience still helped my power growth, I counted those as wins and used my bow to kill them. Before the second month was out, my durability had built up to the point that while tossing me in the lava asleep still worked, it wasn't the heat that was killing me, but the lava getting into my lungs and drowning me.

Near the end of the third month, I'd extinguished so many souls that the Kushanada came to investigate. Most of the gathered Sinners fled before the appearance of six Kushanada. A brave few tried to stand in their way, and called for me to run while the Kushanada were busy eating them.

"I have no intention of running," I said, drawing my zanpakto for the first time in months. With a flick, my shikai released and the sword became a chain. "This entire exercise has been with one goal in mind," I continued, snapping my fingers and donning my hollow mask. "To let me build up enough power to destroy the Kushanada. Now, weave, Araña!"

I leapt at the nearest Kushanada, slicing its sword in half with my chainsaw whip technique. Charging a cero oscuras while still in the air, I blasted a hole straight through the Kushanada's skull. One of the others swatted me out of the air like a bug and crushed me against the ground. High speed regeneration mended my broken limbs, and I got a hit of my own in, sinking fangs into the palm of the hand that crushed me. The venom worked quickly, dissolving the Kushanada's hand in seconds.

Through the hole my venom had dissolved away, I saw another Kushanada blade descending toward me. I flash stepped aside, but left a sticky strand of webbing behind. The web stuck to the sword and I gripped it with my left hand as I flash stepped in a circle. Infused with my spirit energy, the web didn't break and I was able to drag the sword it was attached to into another Kushanada, decapitating it.

The Kushanada I'd wounded with my venom anticipated my movements as I performed my decapitation maneuver and slashed with its sword. At the speed of thought, Tsumi no Rensa was a sword again, pointing at the Kushanada's blade. "Expelliarmus!" I called out and the weapon went flying from the creature's hand. Its now open palm caught hold of me.

I bit it again, but in the time it took for my venom to take effect, the guardian of hell raised me to its jawless mouth and devoured me. I burst from the lava firing a barrage of balas that knocked aside the three Kushanada blades descending toward me. I finished off the wounded Kushanada with a chainsaw whip that bisected its skull while the other three were out of position.

Fighting defensively, I blocked and dodged incoming blades while I built up a kido chant. When I finished, I caught all three of the remaining Kushanada inside a black energy construct which compressed inward then dissolved, revealing the broken Kushanada corpses within.

The collateral damage had been intense. The Sinners killed by the shock waves of the blows I exchanged with the Kushanada were emerging from the lava pits. I gently lowered myself down, ended my resureccion, dismissed my mask, and sheathed my zanpakto.

"While we wait for more Kushanada to come in response to what just happened, let's continue," I said calmly.

* * *

The twenty Kushanada that came next proved too much for me, and I was impaled on one of their blades before I'd slain half their number. When I emerged from the lava this time, I found a shrine containing a carved mural of my battle with the Kushanada and my indestructible quincy cross laid out like a holy relic. I proved my identity to the Sinners holding vigil there by using the cross to form a bow and destroy the soul of one of their number.

This time, when the Kushanada came, I destroyed their weapons with a spell at range, then sealed all my powers and attacked them hand to hand. Either they didn't realize what I was doing or they didn't care. The Kushanada killed me again and again. Each time, I emerged from the lava stronger.

"It's over," I informed the Kushanada as I blocked an enormous fist with an upraised arm. I retaliated with a kick to the skull that toppled the gigantic creature. "Thank you for pushing me so far so fast. Now, I have enough power to destroy every last one of you, put an arrow in every Sinner, break my chains, and stroll out of hell."

I proceeded to do just that. Putting on my mask, I killed each of the Kushanada near me with a bala through the heart. Then I formed a bow and released a barrage of arrows that obliterated every Sinner in the vicinity. Focusing for a moment, I flash stepped to the nearest source of spirit energy and did it again.

Hell contained only so many souls and so many Kushanada. It took me ten hours to mercy kill every Sinner and wipe out every Kushanada. When that was done, I held up my chains, concentrated my spirit energy, and cut them off using my zanpakto. A cero aimed at the sky blew open the gates of hell. I could see the sun for the first time in months.

Rukia stepped into view. She looked different. Her hair was longer and she'd made some alterations to her uniform. The kido corps took up positions behind her. She was smiling.

"Greed, it's been a while since I've seen you," said Rukia.

"Don't tell me anything but the date," I said quickly.

"You already gave me this warning months ago. I haven't forgotten. You need to go back six months, two days, and fifteen hours."

"Thank you," I said. "It's good seeing you here, knowing for sure you'll be okay through what's coming. Hell is now officially empty. I hope you can do something constructive with it."

* * *

In the same moment my past self was impaled by the Kushanada, I appeared behind the group of Kushanada and sliced them in half with my chainsaw whip technique. Grabbing my stuff off the Kushanada's blade, I paused and caught Ichigo's attention.

"Don't worry about us," I said. "We've got this."

Apparating down to the lava pit, I loosed a single arrow that finished off the last of Yuzu's kidnappers. The changes I'd gone through attracted stares.

"Sorry I'm late," said Uryu, arriving on the scene with hirenkyaku. "Greed? What happened to your bow?"

"It's a long story," I said. "I'll tell you all about it once everyone's out of hell."

I made a quick, single use portkey out of a rock and we used it to return to the exit together. Once we were all out, the visoreds stood down and allowed the kido corps to get to work repairing the gate. Sloth was able to restore Yuzu to her body.

We held off on explanations until after Yamamoto and the captains left. Uryu had finally succeeded in getting his revenge against Mayuri. I gave Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihme, Rukia, Renji, and Sloth the broad outline of what had happened to me after being slain by the Kushanada's blade. I made sure to pass on to Rukia the message she'd need to give me when she got to that point.

The crisis was over and everyone was exhausted, no one more so than me. Now that everyone was safe, we could go home and get some rest.

* * *

"You really didn't eat anything while you were in hell?" verified Sloth as I shoveled pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green beans into my mouth.

I swallowed hard and looked at her across the table. "I made sure I died before starvation became an issue. The hollow powers that let me fight my way out come with the side effect of making human souls look tasty, so I didn't want to risk getting too hungry. I didn't want to end up eating the Sinners."

"How long was it exactly?" asked Sloth.

I guzzled down a tall glass of water and said, "It took a month or so to revive after being hit with a Kushanada blade. Subjectively, I experienced three or four months."

"Are you okay after all that?" she asked.

"Surprisingly yes," I said, refilling my plate from the foot Sloth had prepared on our dining room table. "My hollow and my sword were both really gung ho about the whole thing and they kept me focused on the goal. It helped that I had a solid sense of growth and progress the whole way. Made it easier to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

"So how strong are you now?" asked Sloth, moving the subject in a slightly more positive direction.

"Pretty strong," I said proudly. "If I wanted to fight the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, I don't think I'd need to deactivate either of my power limiters."

"Hopefully that extra power'll come in handy for this last crisis," said Sloth.

"I'm looking forward to after, when I can spend some time researching Ichigo's condition. I still feel bad about him losing his powers."

"I think if he had a choice, Ichigo'd prefer you being on your game enough to save his sister now over you being on your game enough to save his powers then."

"He would," I agreed. "There's no reason he shouldn't have both."

"So, how do you feel now that you've got some food in you?"

"Good," I said. "I'm still bone tired, but I don't feel like I'm going to pass out and go comatose for half a day like I've been feeling since we got out of hell."

"Feel free to sleep in as long as you want. After emptying hell, I think you've earned the right to sleep in. Maybe even take some time off from your obligations."

"That actually sounds good," I acknowledged. "Let's time turn ourselves a week's vacation."

* * *

Author's comments:  
That was what it took for Greed to finally pull ahead of Ichigo in terms of raw power. The rules in the movie seemed to me that dying makes you revive almost immediately, but dying to a Kushanada's blade takes you out of commission for a while. To determine how long, I took the time between the Shrieker going to hell and the time he reappeared as an approximate average.


	59. Chapter 68: A Short Vacation

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 68) A Short Vacation  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Our time turned vacation was spent resting and relaxing. The only training I did was an hour a day of meditation as I'd promised Tsumi no Rensa, working toward forced manifestation. We still used our powers freely, but we didn't push ourselves.

Loki enjoyed having us around the house. Spending some time playing with my dog was a welcome break from life or death struggles. With how much my spirit energy had increased, Loki seemed so much weaker and more fragile than he did before.

Now that my banishment from the Seireitei had ended, I could ask Captain Komumura to help me communicate my plan to Loki. I'd still have to wait until the felix felicis was brewed before I could enact the plan. On the off chance Central 46 decided to object to my plan, I was now strong enough to force the issue.

A week passed quickly, but I left the time loop rested and relaxed. Months fighting in hell against superior opponents had noticeably honed my combat skills, and putting an arrow through every denizen of hell had done wonders for my ability to gather and concentrate reshi. As a result, my various instructors stepped up my level of training.

Soken asked Sloth and I to join Uryu for his training session a few days after our trip to hell. As always, I deactivated the surveillance equipment in my substitute badge before heading out to the grounds the elderly quincy used.

"Thank you for joining us," said Soken when we arrived.

"I don't think you've asked us to come at the same time as Uryu before," I said.

"The two of you are excellent students," said Soken, "but Uryu has been studying our powers and lore for years longer than either of you."

"What's changed, sensai?" asked Uryu.

"Very little," said Soken. "The extra time your friend spent in hell has sharpened his skills considerably, but he still has a ways to go before he can match your arrows."

"So, why are we here?" asked Sloth.

"There is a quincy technique called blut which none of you have any training in," said Soken. "It's something you can learn together. Uryu, would you like to explain what blut is to your friends?"

Uryu adjusted his glasses and said, "Quincies have a strong tradition of arranged marriages in order to maintain pure bloodlines. My father and grandfather are both pure blooded quincies, while my mother and I are of mixed blood.

"Blut is a technique for channeling reshi through one's blood vessels to gain inhuman offensive or defensive abilities. Pure blooded quincies can do this naturally from birth. I've known it was possible for a mixed blooded quincy to attain the ability through training, but my sensai died before he could teach it to me."

"Channeling reshi through the veins is called blut veine and grants inhuman defense. Channeling reshi through the arteries is called blut arte and grants inhuman offense," I explained. "The two techniques use separate reshi systems within the body, and as such, only one of the two forms of blut can be used at a time."

"How do you know that?" asked Soken.

"I ate Mayuri's database," I said. "I know everything the Soul Society learned from vivisecting you and the others."

"It doesn't sound like this is something I'll be able to do," said Sloth.

"No, but you did say you wanted to learn the theory," said Soken. "Besides, having someone with healing powers available will help make testing their progress safer."

* * *

It took about two weeks of determined instruction before I could reliably make use of blut. Uryu picked it up a little faster than me thanks to his better spiritual senses and control, but I was right on his tail the whole time. Due to the similarities between the two, Soken had opted to cover both forms of blut at the same time.

Blut veine increased my durability well out of proportion to what came from just my spirit energy alone. Unlike an arancar's hiero, the increased durability wasn't skin deep, instead effecting my entire body. If I had an open wound when activating blut veine, I could use it to keep blood from leaving my body hrough the wound. Acivating it caused my veins to visibly stand out in a way that looked unhealthy, but there weren't any negative side effects.

Blut arte not only increased the power of my arrows, but also my offensive kido, cero variants, and my physical strength. That technique didn't leave any visual indicators like blut veine did. Given my current level of spirit energy, it was hard to gauge the magnitude of the boost I received from the two techniques. Mayuri's data suggested the boost was on the same level as a soul reaper gets when using bankai, approximately an order of magnitude.

While my spirit half was working on blut, homunculus me was working with Kiske to try and find a way to halt or reverse the loss of Ichigo's spirit energy. We experimented with the idea of constructing a reigai that would contain his spirit energy instead of letting it leak out and drain away, but our calculations made it clear any containment system thorough enough to do Ichigo any good would end up cooking him from the inside. Regular reshi infusions might delay him manifesting symptoms, but his maximum capacity was dropping at the same time, so trying to ad more than that didn't do any good.

Discussing it with Ishin, I got some additional background on the final getsuga tensho. The technique was a secret kept by the Shiba clan. Dozens of its members had learned it over the centuries, though most of them never used the technique, holding it as a last resort. There were no cases of someone recovering after using it.

Ichigo rejected my radical proposal to replace his soul with a blank and start his development from scratch. I knew it was a long shot getting him to accept, but I had to put the offer out there.

Zaelaparo Granz, former espada number eight, had been in hell when I depopulated it. I briefly attempted to use my bankai to get him and the version of Mayuri Kurotsuchi bound to my sword to collaborate on solving Ichigo's problem, but their egos made collaboration impossible. Trying to turn the project into a competition just ended in violence. Ultimately, neither of them were any real help.

* * *

A week out from he final crisis predicted for the year, and Ichigo was still relatively stable. Yoruichi was dragging him with her on errands Kiske sent her on to the Soul Society in the vague hope that the higher levels of ambient spirit energy might slow the loss of his powers. Kon was filling in for him in class, and had gotten a lot better at keeping a low profile while in Ichigo's body.

Class had just let out. Tatski and Keigo were speaking with one another when I came up to them. They stopped suddenly when I got into earshot.

"What's going on?" I asked.

They looked at each other, then Tatski said, "We've both been talking. It's about our alchemy lessons."

"What about them?" I asked.

"We want to quit," said Keigo.

"Look, we really appreciate everything you've done, but we started studying alchemy with you so we could protect ourselves from hollows," said Tatski. "Now that we've got options that don't require a doctorate in chemistry to use, I just don't think this is for us."

"And, to be honest, I think I've got the only trick I'm ever going to need to use," said Keigo. He put on a glove marked with a simple transmutation circle and took a lump of coal out of his bag. Purple light sparked from his fist and he opened it to reveal a large, cut diamond.

"If you guys are sure," I said.

"I don't think either one of us really wanted to make this our life," said Tatski. "I know it's important to you, but I just don't think this is something I can stick with. I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to apologize for," I said. "I've enjoyed teaching you for the time we had."

"We are finishing out the occlumency course," added Tatski.

"Yeah," agreed Keigo, shuddering. "We ran into this weird hollow with mind control powers last week. What you taught us definitely saved our lives. We want to make sure we're as good at occlumency as we can get in case the next hollow like that ends up being stronger."

"What happened with this hollow?" I asked, concerned.

"Don't worry," said Tatski. "With the weapons you and Kiske made for us, he didn't stand a chance."

"I'm glad to hear it," I said. "You guys have been doing great work keeping Karakura Town safe from hollow attacks, and that's let the soul reapers spend more time finding lingering souls before they turn and perform konsos."

"So, any clues what this next crisis is?" asked Tatski.

"It's all pretty jumbled," I said. "Kyoko's had visions of high ranked soul reapers fighting in Karakura Town, but who or what they were fighting isn't clear. I'm a little worried she saw Yamamoto in the field in the living world. The guy in the foeglass is someone I've never met before with green and blond hair. The tarot cards have been telling me that despite appearances, there's only one enemy. Hopefully, it'll make more sense closer to go time."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Tatski.

"I'll let you know," I promised.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Not everyone you teach is going to stick with it. There's nothing wrong with trying out something and deciding later on that it isn't for you.


	60. Chapter 69: The Mod Soul Rebellion

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 69) The Mod Soul Rebellion  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Ever since I learned to open a garganta, I'd stopped using the bounts' senkaimon to commute between the world of the living and the Soul society. With my banishment lifted, I could once again use the main senkaimon in the Seireitei, but there was something satisfying about crossing dimensions under my own power. As a result, I first learned something unusual was going on with the precipice world when Yoruichi showed up at militia headquarters.

She took a hard look at my and Sloth's eyes before saying, "We have a problem."

"What's going on?" I asked, concerned.

"Kiske sent me to the Seireitei to drop off an order of merchandise to a customer in squad 12. While I was on my way, I was attacked in the precipice world by copies of two lieutenants."

"Copies?" asked Sloth.

"Nearly perfect reigai being operated by mod souls built with nearly perfect copies of the powers and personalities of the originals," explained Yoruichi. "Their spiritual pressure is exactly the same. The only distinguishing features I could see was a bracelet on their wrist and a purple glow to their eyes."

"What happened exactly?" I asked.

"After I defeated them, their regais dissolve and I saw the red mod soul pill that was left," explained Yoruichi. "When I got to the Soul Society and went to report in, I saw more reigai had infiltrated and I came here. Ont he way, I tried to contact Kiske, but I can't get through."

"I'll do a check to make sure everyone here's who they seem to be," I said, "then we can get with Ran Tao and see if she can get a message through using the university's equipment."

No one at headquarters had been replaced. While plans for redundant communications equipment were on the schedule, currently the militia was handling long range communication either by messenger, or by using soul phones routed through the Department of Research and Development. That system was down. I did have point to point communication gear that I used to consult with Ran Tao when I was in the world of the living. That didn't rely on anyone at the Department of Research and Development, but it still couldn't connect.

Investigating the communication failure revealed that the problem was in the precipice world. Somehow, it had gotten far out of temporal sync. Yoruichi had left the world of the living hours ago from her prospective, but days had passed for everyone else.

"That confirms they have people in the Department of Research and Development," I said. "They maintain monitoring stations for the precipice world. There's no way they missed this."

"The Department of Research and Development is the only place in the Soul Society with the equipment to fabricate reigai," added Yoruichi. "I'm not sure how they produced mod souls this advanced."

"Someone's been running a pet project on the side," I said. "Someone with green and blond hair."

"The good news is the lieutenants they replaced are still alive," said Sloth. "Where they're being held, I couldn't say. I'm guessing the copies have the same names as the originals, but I'm only seeing any given name once on our Marauders' Map of the Seireitei."

"Okay, with communication down, we'll need to send word town to town about the infiltration risk," I said. "I'll get the bounts to work organizing it. Once they're done, we'll be able to rely on the militia for backup if things go wrong."

"Once they've gotten started, we need to get into the Seireitei, head for the Department of Research and Development, and deal with the problem at the source," said Yoruichi. "The longer we wait, the more people they'll replace."

"Sounds like a plan," said Sloth.

* * *

Sloth, Yoruichi, and I approached the western gate of the Seireitei under cover of darkness. Yoruichi and I were both in our animagus forms and Sloth was under her invisibility cloak. Jidanbo wasn't standing there with a secrecy sensor at this hour, so we were able to walk right up to the gate.

"I've been thinking about this for a while," thought Sloth as she slid her fingers under the edge of the heavy sekiseki stone gate. "It's impossible to use spirit energy to lift the gate, but what I have enhancing my strength isn't spirit energy."

She didn't lift the gate very high, so as to avoid anyone nearby noticing it. Yoruichi and I slipped through the small opening. When we telepathically verified the coast was clear, Sloth lifted the gate the rest of the way and came through after us. She made sure not to slam the gate behind her.

As we made our way through the darkened streets of the Seireitei toward the squad 12 baraks, I felt an unexpected spiritual pressure. Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, and Ikaku were fighting nearby. Obviously one or more of them were copies fighting one or more originals. We rerouted to render assistance to the originals.

A moment of observation made it clear who was real and who was fake. Ichigo and Rukia were confused and on the defensive. Ikaku and Renji were focused and pressing the attack. Keeping my spirit energy hidden until the last moment, I resumed human form right behind Renji and pressed my substitute soul reaper badge to his back. He coughed up a red mod soul pill, which I caught in my left hand. Sloth wrapped Ikaku in a yo-yo string before taking out her soul expelling glove and using it to retrieve the Ikaku mod soul.

"Sloth, Greed, Yoruichi?" asked Ichigo.

"Come with us and we'll explain what's going on," said Yoruichi.

* * *

Yoruichi led us to a safe house where we cold compare notes. Once we were sure we hadn't been followed, Yoruichi resumed human form then got dressed in some spare clothes she had stashed here.

"when this is over, you've got to show me how you get your clothes to change with you," said Yoruichi as she pulled on a shirt.

"It's pretty straightforward," I said. "At least for someone with enough transfiguration knowledge to pull off an animagus transformation at all. I'll be glad to help."

Comparing notes, it seemed Yamamoto had ordered Ichigo brought in for questioning regarding the situation in the dangai. Rukia had brought him in to discuss the situation, but broke him out once it became clear people were acting strangely. with everyone caught up, we all set out for the Department of Research and Development again.

Their security was pathetic. Yoruichi distracted a couple of guards, and the rest of us slipped in without even needing to use an unlocking charm. In a workroom with dozens of computer terminals, we each grabbed a workstation and got to pillaging.

Rukia found the precipice world monitoring records. Besides securing evidence Ichigo was nowhere near the incident he was accused of causing, Rukia found an image of a naked girl with green hair running through the precipice world clinging to a sheet to protect her modesty. Ichigo recognized the girl as someone Kon had found unconscious and brought to the Kurosaki clinic to get help.

While they checked those records, Sloth brought up personnel files for the Department of Research and Development. Quickly running through the photos, we soon had a name to go with the face in the foeglass. Kagerosa Iniba, Seventh Seat of Squad 12, Head of Precipice World Studies. A quick check of our enchanted map showed him nowhere in the Seireitei.

"Find anything?" asked Yoruichi, stepping in.

"That depends. Are you you?" asked Sloth, holding up the hand that was wearing the soul expelling glove.

Nodding, Yoruichi gave her a hi five and strolled over to look at the terminals. "Kagerosa Iniba. I've never heard of him."

"According to his records, he joined the Thirteen Court Guard Squads a while after you left the Seireitei," I said. "I thought he might've been involved in Project Spearhead, but he's too recent for that too."

"Are you sure this is the guy?" asked Ichigo.

I nodded. "The foeglass is a pretty accurate tool. It even tipped us off something was odd about Gin."

"What's our next move?" asked Rukia.

"I want to check out Kagerosa's work space," I said. "There might be clues about where he's manufacturing these reigai."

* * *

I let out a groan as we walked into Kagerosa's official lab.

"What is it?" asked Ichigo.

"You see this equipment?" I said, gesturing. "It's for making soul candies. Kagerosa was supposed to be researching the precipice world. If that idiot Mayuri had followed through with the audit I ordered when I was still captain, Kagerosa would've been caugyht months ago and we wouldn't be dealing with this mess."

Checking over the computer, Sloth reported, "Greed, the Spearhead data's here. It looks like everything Central 46 ordered destroyed."

I touched the computer and used the red stones in my pocket to absorb the information in Kagerosa's computer. Slothw as right. All the mod soul daa was here. The researchers had gotten a lot farther than I'd assume based on Kon. There was everything anyone could need to mass produce their own slave army. Which was exactly what Kagerosa was doing.

Then the room exploded. The bomb destroyed the equipment, blasted out walls, and sent a pillar of smoke billowing up in the sky. Fortunately, we were all more durable than the twisted steel support beams had been, and no one had suffered more than minor bruises. The booby trap had been intended to keep what he was doing here a secret, butt my red stones had let me get the data fatter than Kagerosa could have expected.

"We need to go," said Rukia. "That explosion'll draw attention."

"Come on. This way," said Ichigo, pulling aside a tile leading down into the sewers.

In no time, we were miles away from the Squad 12 barracks. We settled in at a junction to decide on our next move.

"We should get back to the world of the living," said Yoruichi. "We have to let Kiske and the others know what's going on here."

"They'll be guarding the senkaimon," said Rukia.

"The dangai's a death trap at the moment anyway," I said. "Kagerosa's manipulating the time axis there. The garganta's safer."

Snapping my fingers, I opened a garganta leading back to the world of the living. We nodded to one another and headed through.

* * *

The garganta opened over Urahara's shop. Ichigo, Rukia, Sloth, Yoruichi, and I stepped out and the black passage closed behind us. Once we'd fully emerged, we were abel to sense a battle going on. Uryu was actively fighting. Chad and Orihime were rushing to the scene. Raising my hand, a strip of cloth appeared and swirled around the five of us as we teleported to the battlefield.

Kon was in Ichigo's body and had been pinned to a wall with kido. Uryu had a seele schneider in one hand and was using blut veine to block Kagerosa's two bladed polearm zanpakto with his forearm. I could see the telltale marks of the technique extending up along the back of his hand from the cuff of his sleeve. The girl we'd seen on the monitoring footage was unconscious, though she was dressed this time. Lieutenants Nanao and Izuru stood back watching. In this light, the purple glow to their eyes was obvious.

Ichigo activated his bankai, Rukia released her shikai, and Yoruichi activated shunko. The three of them joined Uryu against Kagerosa while Sloth and I flash stepped up to the fake Nanao and Izuru, expelled their mod soul pills, and pocketed them. Pressed hard and with no backup, Kagerosa retreated through a senkaimon.

A moment later, Chad and Orihime arrived. A moment after that, a large group of captains and lieutenants showed up on the scene. None of their eyes were glowing. They were the originals.

* * *

With Kagerosa gone, everyone gathered at the mansion for a debrief. We initially considered Kiske's, but the number of captains and lieutenants wouldn't fit around his table. My automatons laid out a feast as everyone settled in.

"Is this really an appropriate time for food?" asked Captain Hitsugaya.

"It is if you want me conscious for this debrief," I said, forking ham onto my plate. "Otherwise, I'm likely to pass out until sometime tomorrow."

"You remember, captain," said Rangiku, loading her plate. "It's a side effect of that antiageing treatment."

"Let's just get started," said Captain Hitsugaya, trying to suppress his annoyance.

Kagerosa had tried to trap the soul reapers he replaced in the dangai. Mayuri'd managed to get them out. With Kagerosa's manipulations of the time axis in the precipice world, that wasn't going to be an option for the return trip.

The green haired girl was named Nozomi. Kagerosa had come to the world of the living personally to retrieve Nozomi. The girl was skittish. It was like pulling teeth just getting her name. She clammed up entirely when asked why Kagerosa was after her.

Ichigo insisted that we were protecting her regardless, and if she didn't want to talk about it, she didn't have to. I was curious, but I followed Ichigo's lead. When I explained about the fideleous charm protecting the mansion and grounds, Nozomi was surprised, but thanked us for taking her where Kagerosa couldn't get her. Orihme set Nozomi up with a room no one else could access in case she wanted privacy from the rest of us.

As late as it was, I wasn't the only one tired. Everyone retired to their rooms to get some sleep. The next day, when everyone was fresh, we'd see about taking the fight to Kagerosa.

Before heading to bed myself, I headed down to my lab. In a locked and hidden closet I hid away the mod soul pills I'd collected. The soul reapers were likely to want them destroyed, but I'd decided I was willing to fight the Soul Society to protect mod souls not long after I met Kon. I didn't dare put them in bodies until Kagerosa was dealt with, but they'd done nothing that made them deserving of death.

"Nozomi's a mod soul," said Sloth as she came up behind me.

"You tried to read her mind and ran into the standard mod soul psychic defenses," I guessed as I gathered up some bulk matter on a workstation.

"Ichigo's right that we'll keep her safe no matter what, but she might be hiding something that'll be important for keeping her safe."

"Obviously, we don't tell the soul reapers about this," I said, clapping my hands and transmuting the base materials into a crystalline data cube compatible with Soul Society computers. All the Spearhead data I'd plundered from Kagerosa's computer was on the crystal.

"Agreed," said Sloth. "I think we ought to tell her we know and that we're still planning on protecting her from both sides knowing she's a mod soul."

I locked the Spearhead data in the closet with the mod soul pills. "As soon as we can catch her alone. Meanwhile, I really am tired. Let's get to bed."

"We can relax," said Sloth. "I've got the automatons keeping watch. They'll come wake us if Nozomi tries to run off on her own."

I smiled. "I really hope she believed me about how much safer she is here than anywhere else she might want to hide."

* * *

I didn't get the chance to talk to Nozomi before breakfast. Her mod soul immunity to telepathy meant silently reassuring her while the captains and lieutenants were gathered at the same table was out. With no way to make her feel better, I focused on resolving the current crisis instead.

"The captains will use Greed's garganta to enter and retake the Seireitei," said Captain Hitsugaya. "The lieutenants will remain in the world of the living to assist in dealing with any reigai Kagerosa sends after Nozomi."

"Remember, they're mod souls, so if you can hit them with one of these, it's a one hit knock out no matter who they're a copy of," I said, passing out soul expelling gloves.

"That's a lame way to fight," said Kenpachi, tossing his glove back.

"If your enemy has a known weakness, not exploiting it doesn't make you brave," said Gin. "Not exploiting it makes you stupid."

"You wanna go?" snapped Kenpachi.

"Oh be quiet, both of you," demanded Mayuri. "If the ignorant barbarian would prefer to rush in unarmed and unprepared, who are we to argue?"

"Take the glove," I said, giving it back to Kenpachi. "No one said you have to use it, but you ought to keep the option open."

"What's the point of an option I'm never gonna use?" said Kenpachi, eyeing me.

"It means you won't have to waste your time on boring fights," offered Ikaku, putting his glove on.

"He has a point, captain," said Yumichika, pocketing his own glove. "Who knows how many weaker lieutenants and seated officers Kagerosa's copied? This way you won't need to stop and fight people who wouldn't pose a challenge."

"Fine," grumbled Kenpachi, taking the glove.

"We've been remotely monitoring activity in the Seireitei," said Sloth, taking out our map. "We've identified duplciates of all the captains except Yamamoto and Unohana. For some reason, he's made two copies of Lieutenant Hinamori. All the other lieutenants except Squad 1 lieutenant have one copy. There are also active copies of Rukia, Ikakku, and Yumichika."

"Kagerosa seems to be using this section of the Department of Research and Development as a staging area," I said, pointing. "I'll try to drop everyone fof as clsoe as I can to that area."

"We know our own abilities already, so we'll know what to expect from the reigai," said Captain Komumura. "We don't know much about Kagerosa and his abilities. You were fighting him before we arrived. What can you tell us?"

Uryu looked flustered, but hid it behind an adjustment of his glasses. "His abilities are at captain level. The fact that he's listed as a seventh seat means he's either incredibly skilled at concealing his true abilities or the ones in charge of assessing those abilities were incompetent."

Having resolved his discomfort at soul reapers asking for his help by using it as an opportunity to insult Mayuri, Uryu gave an assessment of Kagerosa's abilities. He cast mid level kido with neither the name nor incantation, casting completely silently with no observed loss in power. His flash step was just shy of Byakuya's in speed. Kagerosa's zanpakto, Raiko, had space time manipulation abilities, the extent of which, Uryu couldn't be sure of from their brief battle.

"I think I see a fallback base or a backup lab," said Kiske. "Unless you can think of some other reason for me to be patrolling alone near the side of the main senkaimon."

"Any advice about kicking your ass?" I asked Kiske.

"Don't get fancy," said Kiske seriously. "Keep your guard up, watch for tricks, don't let hi hit you with anything that seems harmless, and overwhelm him with raw power."

I nodded. "I'll deal with Kiske's reigai and the secondary lab while the captains are assaulting his staging area in the Department of Research and Development."

"While you're doing that, I'll open the gate so the militia can come in and provide support," said Sloth.

"What about us?" asked Ichigo.

"Kagerosa obviously considers retrieving Nozomi important to his plans," said Uryu. "The barrier around the mansion may be strong enough to prevent him from just coming in and taking her, but he may try something less direct. We'll need to be on hand in ccase he tries something unexpected to get Nozomi."

"In the meantime, I'll do what I can to disrupt his control over the precipice world," said Kiske. "The longer the time differential stays out of balance, the more souls will have problems crossing over, which will mean more hollows."

* * *

While everyone was getting ready, I took Uryu downstairs to my lab.

"What did you need me for?" asked Uryu.

I pulled out a bin of fabric and sewing supplies and said, "I've captured mod souls for Izuru, Nanao, Ikaku, and Renji. I want to test if the bakoto's effective against these mod souls. Can you make some plush bodies for them so I can test it before I have to fight Kiske's double?"

The president of the home handicrafts club shook hsi head, then got a glint in his eye. "I know you. You're planning on collecting all of the mod souls Kagerosa made, which you'll really need one plushie for everyone, two for people he's made more than one of."

Watching Uryu work never ceased to be an awe inspiring experience. In minutes, he'd created stuffed dolls for every captain and lieutenant, each sporting their unique features and equipped with a plush zanpakto. He laid the collection out on a shelf. I picked up Ikaku's doll body and popped the appropriate mod soul into his mouth.

"What the hell is this?" demanded the doll as he looked at his body.

"I tried to stay as close to your original appearance as possible," said Uryu.

"How is this close to my original appearance?" he demanded. "My arms and legs are short and stubby, and I don't even have fingers! Did you glue the sword to my hand?"

"Actually, it's attached with a Velcro strip so it can attack to either your hand or your belt, since a sheath wasn't really practical."

"Was the point to humiliate me?" asked the mod soul angrily.

I took out the bakoto and said, "No. The point was to test your abilities. Defend yourself."

I took a sing at him and the mod soul Ikaku dodged with a flash step. He'd moved less than a foot, but it was enough to avoid my attack and start running up my arm toward my face.

"Extend, Uzukimaru!" yelled the plushie as the sword formed into a three sectioned staff with a blade on one end. It was also plush material with the sections held together with yarn instead of chain. "Oh, come on!"

I swatted the Ikaku plushie across the room,. then fed spirit energy into the bakoto, causing it to dig tentacles into my forearm and transform into a black scaled gauntlet with a bright green blade extending from a stylized dragon's mouth. Pushing off against the far wall, the mod soul twirled his weapon overhead and swung it at me. I resealed the bakoto, forcing it back into the form of a tuning fork shaped short word and I used it to pin the plushie to the ground.

"Well, that's that," I said, regenerating the holes the bakoto's tentacles had gouged into my forearm. "If it didn't stop his sword release, the bakoto's going to be no use against these mod souls."

Uryu popped the soul candy out of the plushie and placed both back in their proper places.

* * *

"I thought you were going to the Soul Society?" said Nozomi as I helped the others prepare a barbecue in the yard just outside the mansion.

"Greed and I are homunculi," said Sloth. "Think of it like a special gigai with a built in soul candy that automatically updates its memories and personality while the soul's in."

"It lets us be in two places at once at the cost of having only some of our powers available."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Nozomi.

"Why wouldn't I want to be able to be in two places at once?" I asked.

"No. Why are you helping me?" said Nozomi.

"Because you're in trouble and need help," said Ichigo.

"Or if you're too cynical to believe that," I said, rolling my eyes at her expression, "because Kagerosa's our enemy and protecting you thwarts him."

"I think that's all we need until Chad and Uryu get back with the groceries," said Orihime, looking over the grill and cutlery.

"We'd better get Loki out of the area before the cooking starts," I said, whistling for my dog to follow. "Nozomi, if you want to help us keep him distracted while the others cook, I'd appreciate it."

After we were a good distance away from the others, Sloth broached the subject.

"We know you're a mod soul."

Nozomi tensed and looked like she was trying to decide which way to flee.

"We haven't told anyone," I said, getting to one knee to pet Loki and hopefully look less threatening. "Loki's actually really well trained. He'd never cause trouble near the barbecue. That was an excuse so we could talk to you without the others overhearing."

"What do you want?" asked Nozomi.

"We want you to know you don't have anything to worry about," said Sloth. "We aren't going to tell anyone, and even if the others knew, it wouldn't change anything. Kon's a mod soul and none of us have let the Soul Society do anything to him."

"I assume you've got some ability or data Kagerosa wants," I said. "You don't have to talk about that if you don't want to. With any luck the other us and the captains will have eliminated him as a threat by the end of the day then you can decide where you want to go and what you want to do with the rest of your life."

"What makes you so sure you can beat him?" asked Nozomi.

"We've beaten a lot worse," I said with a smirk before picking up a stick and tossing it for Loki.

* * *

My garganta had opened in the sky above the Department of Research and Development's compound. I left the captains there, then apparated with Sloth to the west gate. After a parting kiss for good luck, I apparated near the main senkaimon out of view.

Reaching out with my spiritual senses, I confirmed Kiske's double was one flash step away from my current position with both my power limiters in place. He'll have sensed me apparating in, so there was little point hiding my spirit energy. Instead, I started a kido chant for a high level hado. While saying the last syllable, I flash stepped into pint blank range and unleashed a cylindrical beam of lightning strong enough to burn a city to ashes right in Kiske's face.

"Danku," said Kiske a split second before my spell released, raising a transparent, rectangular shield that blocked my spell.

The mod soul flash stepped behind me, bringing his zanpakto down at my head. I turned and blocked with Tsumi no Rensa.

"Scream, Benehime," said Kiske as our swords crossed. Beams of crimson light fired from his released sword to impact my wordlessly cast shield spell.

Taking advantage of my diminished visibility, Kiske used his free hand to strike at my wrists. I was too much stronger than him to disarm that way, and he tried to flash step back to get some distance. I kept the pressure on, striking fast enough that he could do nothing but block and hard enough that he had to raise a crimson energy shield with his shikai every time he blocked a strike, otherwise, I'd have been able to power through his guard and end the fight.

"You're definitely a lot stronger than I am," said the mod soul between blocks. "Even so, I would've expected my original to warn you not to let me touch you."

"Head games aren't going to save you," I said, continuing to look for an opening and keeping up my flurry of attacks in the meantime.

"Actually, it's a kido I designed to deal with Aizen," said Kiske. "It seals the vents soul reapers have in their wrists. Once I touched your wrists, all I had to do was keep you distracted. Your spirit energy is a lot stronger than mine, and you've been cooking in it this while fight."

He'd timed it perfectly. I had just enough time to comprehend what he'd done before I was paralyzed with agony and unable to do anything about it. Even so, telling me what he'd done was a mistake.

As my soul was immolated from within, a second me appeared and chopped off my arms with his zanpakto. I gave a grin that bared teeth as my future self stepped between Kiske and I.

"You realize, the fact that he's here means I win," I said, gesturing with my chin at future me as I willed my hollow mask onto my face so I could access my high speed regeneration.

Future me kicked my severed right arm at Kiske, then flash stepped twenty feet behind him. "Sectumsempra!" yelled future me, slashing his sword at Kiske. Kiske blocked the spell with another crimson barrier from his sword and caught the severed arm by the wrist so the glove wouldn't strike him and expel his pill. The cero I fired at the same time as my future self's spell proved one attack too many for Kiske to block, and he was enveloped in the crimson blast. My severed arm disintegrated, Kiske's reigai crumbled to dust, and my future self had to flash step to avoid the blast.

I finished regenerating my arms, removed my mask, and picked up the red mod soul pill from the pile of ashes. Future me went down into the lab Kiske's mod soul had been guarding. I stayed topside, took a breather, and retrieved my sword. I cast a quick repair spell to mend my sleeves and restored the defensive enchantments. Finally, I gripped my zanpakto, cast my spell, and went back in time to chop my past self's arms off.

* * *

In Kagerosa's backup lab, I started by checking for traps and explosives. Finding one, I again used my red stones to assimilate his database. This lab had some information his other lab hadn't. He'd apparently been working on a method to permanently fuse two mod souls into a single being with the combined powers and memories of both. The two mod souls Kagerosa intended to fuse were Nozomi and himself.

It wasn't spelled out, but the research notes indicted that Kagerosa were both faulty mod souls based on the same soul reaper, Oko Yushima, the head researcher for Project Spearhead. Nozomi was an early prototype that Oko considered a failure while Kagerosa was a faulty rush job created right as the Soul Society was closing down Spearhead. Oko himself was left in a vegetative state by problems stemming from the rush he was in creating Kagerosa. Kagerosa's plan to fuse with Nozomi would theoretically produce a fully functional Oko mod soul.

Presumably, Kagerosa'd only recently located Nozomi's mod soul pill, put her in a gigai, and explained his intention to fuse with her. He didn't expect her to value her individual existence, so she was able to slip away and flee to the world of the living. How much of Kageros'as creating duplicates and taking over the Seireitei was for its own sake and how much was him needing the Seireitei's resources to go after Nozomi, I couldn't say for sure.

It looked like Ichigo and I had been targeted to have mod soul versions of us made, but something about our hollow abilities made the resulting mod souls nonviable. Since Kagerosa had a Kiske mod soul to consult with, it probably wasn't as simple as him not being used to working with hollow powers. I'd need to talk to the real Kiske about it when this was all over.

After making an encrypted backup of the files, I destroyed the hardware and rendered the lab unusable. I made a quick stop at the main senkaimon to remove the sensor Kagerosa had used to collect the reshi samples he needed to create his mod souls in the first place. Finally, I reached out with my senses to see how everyone else's missions were going.

With people batling their clones, it was impossible to tell who was winning in the battle at the Department of Research and Development without being there. Sloth hadn't yet returned with militia reinforcements. I was sensing a second battle with Head Captain Yamamoto fighting captains Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Unohana at the same time.

My soul expelling glove had been destroyed in the fight with Kiske's duplicate, but I still had my combat pass. Apparating onto the scene, I pressed the badge to Unohana's back, catching the red mod soul pill that was expelled.

Yamamot's shirt was off and his sword was aflame. Kyoraku and Ukitake both had their swords released to shikai as well. The two mod souls looked fresh and energetic while the old man was starting to breathe heavy. Best guess, the Unohana mod soul had been healing and reenergizing the other two while they wore the head captain down. It was a good strategy, which was now useless.

"Well darn," said Kyoraku, shifting his stance to keep both me and the head captain in sight. "Three on one with Old Man Yama, and I'd say we had a real chance. I like two on two a lot less."

I flash stepped between Kyoraku and Ukitake too fast for them to react. I touched my combat pass to Ukitake, expelling his pill. At the same time, I concentrated my spirit energy in the tips of two fingers of my left hand and poked Kyoraku in the shoulder. That poke sent Kyoraku flying just like his had sent me flying when we first met. Rather than wait for him to hit a wall, which would do more damage to the wall than him, I flash stepped into his path and stopped his momentum with an upraised fist. I didn't need to use my combat pass again. His reigai crumbled to dust and I retrieved the pill from the remains, summoning and pocketing Ukitake's pill as I did so.

The head captain's eyes, usually closed in a squint, opened in surprise at my display. Taking the three of them out that way had been partly efficiency, partly payback for the contemptuous ease with which Kyoraku had taken me out back during our initial invasion of the Soul Society, and partly a calculated show of force. I wasn't going to let Nozomi and the mod soul duplicates Kagerosa created just be exterminated, and if Yamamoto was going to have a problem with that, I wanted to make sure he had an idea what he was up against.

Ending his shikai and resealing his sword inside his customary walking stick, Yamamoto said, "Militia Commander Greed, am I to assume you know who it was that just attacked me disguised as three of my captains?"

"They're mod souls created by Kagerosa Iniba of Squad 12. He's a traitor trying to take over the Seireitei by replacing soul reapers with mod soul copies. The other captains are fighting their doubles and Kagerosa himself at the Squad 12 barracks right now."

Yamamoto nodded, gripped his cane and dissolved it so his sword was once again in his hand, and flash stepped to the Department of Research and Development. I followed, drawing my own blade.

The fighting was a confused mess. Yamamoto simplified it immensely by assessing friend and foe in a fraction of a second, drawing Ryu Jin Jakka, and instantly incinerating all of the fakes, leaving the real captains unharmed. I couldn't help but think there was a message for me in that.

"Kagerosa Iniba," rumbled Head Captain Yamamoto, "your attempt to take over the Soul Society has failed. I will offer you one chance to surrender and submit to the judgement of Central 46."

"Fools," spat Kagerosa. "Destroying my reigai army means nothing. They can be replaced."

"Without your equipment?" I asked. "The lab you had hidden by the senkaimon's been dealt with."

Kagerosa glared hatred at me, then said, "Once I have Nozomi, none of that will matter!"

Kagerosa twirled his two bladed polearm shikai and a circular portal to the precipice world opened up. I launched a sectumsempra at the same time Yamamoto unleashed Ryu Jin Jaka's flames, but Kagerosa was gone before our attacks reached him.

"We'll need a garganta to pursue him," said Captain Hitsugaya.

I nodded, snapped my fingers, and opened a garganta to Karakura Town. Then I held out my hand, and a red mod soul pill leapt from each pile of ash in the room into my hand. Given the differing levels of durability each reigai possessed, the fact that none of the pills themselves were damaged demonstrated an incredible level of fine control over his flames by Yamamoto. I pocketed the pills while the captains worked out who was going.

* * *

Chad and Uryu arrived back at the mansion carrying grocery bags and looking grim. After they set the bags on the table, Uryu called everyone over to explain.

"The lieutenants met their mod soul counterparts," said Uryu. "Apparently the mod soul versions are much stronger than the originals. Chad and I were able to drive them off and keep anyone from dying, but they're all injured and out of commission."

"Rukia?" asked Ichigo, worried.

"Her too," confirmed Uryu. She had frostbite, broken bones, and electrical burns when we brought her to Urahara's shop. Tessai's treating her. She's going to be all right. They all are eventually."

"Did anyone actually use the gloves I handed out?" I asked.

"Nemu and Yumichika," said Uryu, tossing me two red mod soul pills. "It didn't look like the others had the chance to try."

"This is my fault," said Nozomi. "They were here looking for me. I didn't want anyone getting hurt to protect me."

"Nozomi," said Kon gently, trying to calm her down, "you shouldn't blame yourself for something Kagerosa did. None of this is your fault."

Nozomi shook her head and said, "I want to help, but I can't do anything until I explain who I am and who Kagerosa is."

When Nozomi finished her explanation, Ichigo and the others demonstrated they were exactly the kind of people we told Nozomi they were. They understood why Nozomi didn't want to tell us and reaffirmed their intention to help and protect her.

"If you want to help, I have a way," said Sloth.

"What do you mean?" asked Nozomi.

"Kagerosa wants to capture you," said Sloth. "If you and Kon switch bodies, we can bring him out and use him as bait in a trap for Kagerosa and his mod souls without any risk that he'll actually catch you if something goes wrong."

"You want to put that pervert in my body?" asked Nozomi incredulously.

"I am not a pervert!" yelled Kon. "And besides, if you think I'd be interested in a little kid like you, you've got another thing coming!"

"Little kid?" I asked, eyeing the stuffed lion. "She looks fifteen, same as most of the girls you drool over."

"I knew it," said Nozomi.

"If it'd make you feel better, I can shoot him if he tries to take advantage of the situation," offered Uryu.

Kon's jaw dropped and he stared at Uryu.

"Okay, let's do it," said Nozomi at once, drawing a stare of her own from Kon.

* * *

Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Sloth, and I were under invisibility cloaks while Ichigo in his soul reaper form visibly escorted Kon in Nozomi's gigai off the mansion's grounds. They hadn't taken ten steps when five mod souls flash stepped into place to cut off retreat back to the mansion.

"Ichigo, hand over Nozomi," said the Rukia mod soul.

"If you really have Rukia's memories, you know I won't do that," said IChigo, drawing his sword. "Get behind me."

While everyone was posturing, the five of us under invisibility cloaks each got behind a differant soul reaper. Once we were all in position, we all pressed soul expelling gloves to their backs at the same time.

"That worked unbelievably well," said Nozomi from where she was watching just inside the protections of the fideleous charm in Kon's stuffed animal body.

"It probably wouldn't have worked on the real deal," I said, "at least not that well, but one of the mental changes Kagerosa made from the originals was to make them more agressive. The originals might've expected a trap, but the copies just saw an oportunity and jumped at it."

"I'll take your design criticisms under advisement," said Kagerosa, having appeared behind me.

I was impaled through the back by Kagerosa's polearm, which was quickly withdrawn as he grabbed what he thought was Nozomi. Activating his bankai and hollowfying, Ichigo launched a black getsuga tensho at Kagerosa. Twirling his weapon, Kagerosa sucked up Ichigo's attack with a portal and threw it back with a second portal. Orihime raised a shield to block the redirected getsuga.

Kagerosa got some distance and went to use his zanpakto to retreat to the precipice world, but Tsubaki streaked in and cut Kagerosa's zanpakto in two before returning to Orihime's hairpin. Disamred, Kagerosa used kido to fend off Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad while Sloth and I drank your combat potions. The Ultimate Shield formed over Sloth and I, but we paused when a garganta opened up behind Kagerosa.

Head Captain Yamamoto arrived accompanied by Captains Hitsugaya and Kuchki. The head captain drew his sword and unleashed a gout of Ryu Jin Jaka's flames at Kagerosa, heedless of the girl he was holding hostage. With the combat potion accelerating my senses, I could see the flames slowly creep across the sky toward their target.

Hirenkyaku allowed me to interpose my body between Yamamoto and Kagerosa. Ryu Jin Jaka's flames struck me and broke like waves on the shore. They couldn't harm me while my combat enhancing potion was in my system.

While I parted the flames, Sloth leapt through them and broke Kagerosa's arm with a kick, releasing Kon. When Yamamoto halted the onslaught, Sloth brought Kon down to ground level.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Yamamoto. Kagerosa had come in a gigai so I could hear him, but I was forced to lip read Yamamoto. Fortunately, I'd finally gotten the hang of it.

"I wasn't going to let you burn Nozomi with Kagerosa," I said. "We've all promised to protect her."

"Like you protected the shinenju?" confirmed Yamamoto.

"If it comes to that," I said. "The mod souls are victims in all this."

"And Kagerosa himself?" asked Yamamoto.

"His crimes were committed of his own free will," I said, stepping asside. "Do what you will."

Considering for a moment, Yamamoto bound the injured Kageorsa using kido and handed him over to Byakuya. "He will be brought before Central 46 and judged," said Yamamoto. "I see no need to expend resources recovering and destroying any remaining mod souls so long as they do not reappear in the Soul Society."

"They won't," I said, returning to ground level.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Mod souls with the various powers of the captains and lieutenants with their spirit energy cranked up to the limit of spiritual growth potential would be a massive threat to anyone who didn't have the technology to just pop the mod soul pills out of the person with a touch and the speed or stealth to manage it.


	61. Chapter 70: The Fate of the Mod Souls

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 70) The Fate of the Mod Souls  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Mayuri and Kiske were able to restore the dangai to normal. Kagerosa was sentenced to death for his crimes by Central 46, though I suspected that was at least in part an effort to destroy the mod soul knowledge he had. With Kagerosa gone, the compulsion to obey him and act in his interests that was implanted in the mod souls he created lost its meaning. They were still somewhat more aggressive and individualistic than their originals, but they no longer considered us their enemies.

Nozzomi accepted my offer to stay at the mansion as long as she liked while she decided what she wanted to do long term. I'd have suggested joining the Rukon University, since she'd inherited Oko's scientific knowledge and talent, but with her being banished from the Soul Society, that option was closed. I did offer her and the other mod souls a place in the new Soul Society being built in Senna's Valley of Screams that was now connected to my original world. The others already agreed, but Nozomi was still thinking about it.

While she was making up her mind, she offered to help me and the Kiskes go over Kagerosa's mod soul data. One of the first things we did was offer the mod souls who'd eben cloned twice the option to be fused into a single mod soul so they wouldn't have to deal with there being more than one of them in the new world. They accepted the offer and the procedure went off without a hitch.

Kagerosa never got a reshi sample from anyone in Squad 1, Uryu destroyed Mayuri's mod soul pill to no ones objection, and something odd kept causing problems with the attempts to scan Kenpachi's lieutenant Yachiru. Other than those four, all the captains and lieutenants were accounted for along with a handful of lower ranking officers. Not interested in waiting around the mansion until it was time for me to leave this world, the mod souls agreed to be put into stasis until it was time.

In the week I spent getting everything settled, the last of Ichigo's soul reaper powers faded away. When I knocked on the door to Ichigo's house, it was impossible to know if he was home or not. Karin answered the door.

"Greed? Sloth? Loki? What are you guys doing here?" asked Ichigo's black haired sister.

"We wanted to talk to your brother. Is he home?" I asked.

"We're just sitting down to dinner," said Karin. "You should come in. Yuzu made curry."

"Thanks," I said. "We'd love to join you for dinner."

"Ichigo's mentioned Yuzu's curry," said Sloth. "I guess our timing was lucky."

"Not really," said Karin. "We have it most nights. You coulda come over any time."

Seeing shoes lined up next to the door, Sloth and I dismissed our shoes as we followed Karin into the house. I gave Loki a quick command and he stayed out of the kitchen, strolling over to sniff at the Kurosaki family's pet cat, Cammy. Ishin and Misaki were seated at the table with Ichigo. Yuzu was carrying in the meal.

"Hi, there. Long time no see," said Yuzu smiling as we came in. "I'll set some extra places."

"So, what brings the two of you by?" asked Ishin. "Finally decided to try my beautiful daughter's cooking?"

"We had something we wanted to talk to Ichigo about, but since we happened to arrive when we did..." I shrugged and took the offered seat.

"We could've talked at school," said Ichigo. "I thought you guys had a time machine. So how've you been missing class for the last week?"

"You know we don't really need to go to school, right?" said Sloth. "We've been pretty busy dealing with the mod soul situation, and it just didn't seem worth it to use time tuners to keep up our attendance record."

"If whatever you wanted to talk about was urgent, you'd have said so," observed Misaki. "Why don't we enjoy our meal and then you can talk to Ichigo privately."

I took a bite of the curry and hastened to compliment the chef. Sloth likewise seemed to be enjoying it, so I decided to ask for the recipe. When we'd all eaten our fill and set down plates for the animals, I brought up the reason we'd come.

"We have some news about our powers. If you want to keep it private, we can," I said.

"Nah," said Ichigo. "If everyone hears what's going on at once, I won't have to explain things all over again."

Nodding, I said, "The mod soul data we recovered from Kagerosa let us put together a partial solution to your problem. Ishin, I presume you're familiar with the development history for mod soul technology?"

"Of course I am, but maybe you should explain it for everyone else..."

"It goes back to Ran Tao's experiments with cloned souls a thousand years ago," I explained. "More recently, Kiske's predecessor in charge of the twelfth division, Kirio Hikifune, developed a technique for infusing food with spirit energy in such a way as to have the body absorb it and integrate it into itself. While it had the potential to radically increase the powers of whoever ate the specially prepared food, the process for making it was finicky and energy intensive, requiring a single expert to drain herself near to death preparing a meal customized to the eater. Long story sort, the two techniques were refined and combined to create modern soul candy and mod soul technology."

"What does all this have to do with my powers?" asked Ichigo.

I took out a soul candy dispenser and said, "The way Kagerosa took reshi samples to base his mod souls on helped solve some of the problems with Kirio's original technique. Basically, we can take a reshi sample and make a pill of that person's powers. Since they're your own powers, there's no risk of rejection."

"Where'd you get the sample of my reshi?" asked Ichigo.

"That's why it's only a partial solution," I said. "Aizen's had you under surveillance for basically your entire life. It wasn't detailed enough to derive your reshi from the records, but it would have detected a time traveler. The earliest we could go back and retrieve a sample was just after your powers stabilized after the fight with Aizen."

"What'll that mean for Ichigo?" asked Misaki.

"If we'd been able to get a sample from before he'd used the final getsuga tensho, he could take one pill and be back to full strength permanently," I said. "Those pills represent a version of his power that's already started to fade away. As a result, after he takes one, his powers will only last about a month before they fade away again. That dispenser has a dozen pills in it."

"Will these restore all my powers?" asked Ichigo. "I thought Kagerosa couldn't copy you and me because he couldn't copy hollow powers."

"Kiske got us past that problem," I said. "I've already made some backup pills of my own powers in case something similar happens to me down the line."

Ichigo stared at the colorful plastic dispenser capped with a cartoon duck's head. "Using these would mean I'd have to go through losing my powers all over again. Again and again each time I took one."

"We haven't given up on a more permanent solution," I said. "Just think of them as being in case of emergency."

"I don't want to come off as ungrateful," said Ichigo. "This is already more than I was expecting. Thank you."

* * *

Yoruichi had been patient while I settled the aftermath of Kagerosa's takeover attempt. When I stopped by Urahara's shop the day after delivering the pills to Ichigo, she was lounging around in cat form. Kiske made his training area available to us. I headed down while Yoruichi resumed human form and got dressed.

"Like I said earlier, if you've got enough skill with transfiguration to develop an animagus form, learning to shift your clothes isn't that hard," I said when Yoruichi arrived.

It took less than an hour for Yoruichi to get the trick of it, most of which was spent with me translating advanced transfiguration technical jargon I'd learned at Hogwarts into the equivalent terms used to discuss soul reaper kido.

"That is really convenient," said Yoruichi shifting back to human form. "I could've used that trick more times than I care to count. I even stopped carrying my zanpakto at a certain point because it was either have it with me or be able to transform."

"That can't have been good for your relationship with it," I said.

She sighed and said, "I still visit, but we're definitely not as close as we used to be. Hopefully, this'll let me start rectifying that."

"If I'd realized, I'd've offered sooner," I said.

"It wouldn't have made a difference in our battles with Aizen and the arancars," said Yoruichi. "It's going to take more than a couple months to reconnect and get our relationship back where it should be."

"I wish you luck," I said. "Before you go, can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Shunko," I said. "I've seen you and Soi Fon use it almost like a replacement bankai. I'd like to learn how to use it."

"Bankai, hollowfication, and enough raw spirit energy to wipe out the kushanada by yourself aren't enough, huh?" said Yoruichi with an affectionate smirk. "I suppose you don't earn a name like Greed by deciding you have enough powers. I'm happy to teach, but this isn't like what you just showed me. You won't get the hang of it in an hour."

"If I expected it to be quick, I'd have asked about it when we were getting ready to fight the arancars. We should be in for at least a year of relative peae and quiet."

"All right. Take off your shirt."

"Um... why?" I asked.

"Shunko involves channeling kido through your limbs. The way the energies concentrate along the back and shoulders means anything you wear over those areas will be destroyed."

"A form of fighting that requires you to be shirtless," I mused as I removed my shirt and set it aside. "This seems like the sort of thing that would be passed down the Armstrong family line for generations."

"Who?" asked Yoruichi.

"Someone I worked with a few times years ago in the military back home. He left a very strong impression."

* * *

That evening, Sloth, Nozomi, and I were seated around the dinner table, ladling a hearty stew into our dishes.

"This shunko training sounds like it's a lot more fun to watch than the other stuff I've sat in on," said Sloth.

"I don't think any of the other stuff I've learned here strictly requires me to wear a shirt," I said, smiling at her across the table. "You were always free to make a request."

"Between the hollow holes and the bakoto tentacles digging into your arm, there's been a lot of your training I'd rather you kept your shirt on for," said Sloth.

Taking a bite, I asked, "So, Nozomi, are you any closer to a decision about whether to come with us to our world?"

"Not really," admitted Nozomi. "When are you planning on leaving?"

"That's a good question," I said, looking at Sloth and taking a big bite.

"We haven't really talked about it," thought Sloth as she likewise started chewing. "Obviously, we have to stay long enough to finish our felix felicis and kill Yhwach. That's four more months."

"There's also the Oin, and that'll be showing up in around eleven months," I thought back.

"That'll bring us close to the edge of our prediction window. Say, finish off the year of peace then play it by ear after that?"

I nodded, swallowed, and said, "It'll be at least a year. There's still a lot I want to study and learn before we leave."

"I guess that means I have some time to decide," said Nozomi.

* * *

For the next few months, I fell into a routine. As I'd hoped, the Rukon Militia and Rukon University were both practically running themselves. The economic and infrastructure developments I'd helped get started were now on a more or less self sustaining path to progress, allowing me to devote time and attention to other things.

Each morning, Sloth and I raced one another around laps of the estate with high speed movement techniques. Our homunculus selves continued to attend school with our friends while our souls were out training. The quest for a cure for Ichigo continued, but progress was slow and leads thin.

With no new crises predicted for the next year, we took the time to follow up on some matters we'd deprioritized at the time. Captain Ukitake's illness flared up again, which led to Sloth finding out why her powers weren't curing him. As a child, Ukitake had contracted a fatal lung disease. His parents appealed to a god of stasis to save his life. The god halted the disease's progress, preventing it from killing him, but it was done by having the progress of the disease regularly reset to a previous state. Modern medicine could easily cure the disease, but the god's blessing that allowed him to live past childhood now meant he could never be fully free of the disease.

I hadn't thought the soul reapers worshiped gods. In hindsight, I recalled Aizen mentioning them in his megalomaniacal rants, but it hadn't really clicked that he was referring to existing beings rather than being poetic. A bit of research clarified that soul reapers generally used the term to refer to powerful spiritual beings who used their powers to maintain a cult of worshipers. I didn't particularly like that definition, since the only thing that would disqualify Cornello was the hair splitting technicality that he used alchemy instead of spirit energy.

A couple of days before the felix felicis would be finished, Sloth and I transported our stock of instant darkness powder to a staging area well away from anything important in the Rukon District. I wrapped packets in thin tissue paper that were set up as timed portkeys. If everything went as planned, the Seireitei would be plunged into total darkness for a three hour window the day after the potion was completed.

While we were in the Soul Society, Sloth and I went to visit Captain Komumura. We found the captain of squad 7 in his office.

"Greed, Sloth, come in," said Captain Komumura when he saw who was at his door. "How have the two of you been?"

"Things have been pretty quiet," said Sloth. "I'm enjoying the break, but Greed's been itching for some excitement."

I shrugged. "When I get bored, I pick a town, use some hollow bait, and wipe out the hollows that come. It gets me through rough days."

"I see. And how is Ichigo Kurosaki?" asked Sajin.

"He's adapting to life without his powers," I said sadly. "I wish I could find some way to help him."

"How about you, Sajin?" asked Sloth.

"I've been well," said he wolf faced captain. "I'd like to thank you again for resurrecting Kaname. I've been visiting him in prison and I think I'm getting through to him."

"I'm glad to hear it," said Sloth.

"There's a favor I wanted to ask you," I said. "Do you remember Loki, my dog?"

"Of course," he replied.

"I've been looking over the rules about substitute soul reapers," I said. "The rules only say it's illegal to give a human soul reaper powers. I want to make Loki a substitute soul reaper."

"You realize what happened to you and Ichigo is rare, right?" asked Captain Komumura. "It's far more likely that Loki will die rather than gain soul reaper powers."

"I have a way to manipulate the odds in my favor," I said. "I used it when I got my powers, and it should make the process safe for Loki too."

"Wouldn't that make restoring Ichigo's powers simple?" asked Sajin.

"It was one of the first things we looked into," I said, shaking my head. "With the state his soul's in, it'd be like pouring water into a leaky bucket. He just can't retain spiritual pressure."

"I see," said Sajin, a frown audible in his voice even if I couldn't read it on his kanid features. "We all owe Ichigo a debt. If there's anything any of us can do for him, please don't hesitate. As for Loki, what exactly did you need my help with?"

"I'd like you to explain what's going on to him before the procedure. Then, afterward, teach him to use his new spirit energy. I'm not expecting kido or anything. He's a smart dog, but that would be a bit much to expect of him. Flash step, though, was pretty straightforward."

"I can't promise what he'll be able to learn, but I would be honored to help you with this," said Sajin.

"Thank you," I said. "There are still a few things I need to take care of. Is there some time next week that would be good for you?"

"I'll have Tetsuzaimon contact you with a time," said Captain Komumura.

* * *

Author's comments:  
While it isn't explicit, all of the mod souls agreed to head out, not just the ones Kagerosa created. Ririn, Noba, and Kurodo are coming to help keep the other Kiske company. Kon won't be inhabiting Ichigo's body anymore thanks to the loss of his powers, and this will give him a chance to build his own life.


	62. Chapter 71: The Fall of Yhwach

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 71) The Fall of Yhwach  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

"That is felix felicis," said Sloth looking at the cauldron of bubbling golden liquid.

Ladling it carefully into unbreakable bottles, I said, "It's probably a good thing we didn't have this stuff when we were dealing with everything after you came back. With how many crises and emergencies there were, we'd all be addicts by now."

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" asked Sloth.

"My shunko isn't ready to be used in combat, and even using my bankai to get Ulquiora's advice, I'm a long way away from segunda etapa," I said as I stoppered the bottles. "I don't think either of those will change before Yhwach becomes omniscient, so I'd say I'm as ready as I'm going to be."

"Combat potions calibrated for everyone's maximums, improved invisibility cloaks based on Kiske's design that aren't double blind to spiritual senses, emergency exit portkeys leading to the Rukon District shadow realm. It feels like we're going in sufficiently well armed," said Sloth.

"Are you okay with setting the fiendfyre?" I asked.

"Wand's charged and ready to go," affirmed Sloth. "You're right that we can't risk any of them using your bankai to cause trouble. I'm still a little worried about you having Aizen in there."

"If I had a way to neutralize him without killing him, I would have," I said. "As it was, we barely managed what we did."

"Not a criticism," said Sloth. "I know how hard Aizen was to kill. Just given his ability to steal your powers with a thought, it's especially important we make sure Yhwach stays dead."

"Especially after I did all that grinding in hell," I said, nodding. "Well, we're as ready as we're going to be. Let's head to bed and get a good night's sleep, so we'll be fresh and alert when we meet Uryu and Soken tomorrow."

* * *

When Sloth and I arrived at the quincy training ground, there were more people waiting than expected. Uryu and SOken were here. Uryu's mother, Kanae, was there with a quincy bangle on her wrist. Uryu's father, Ryuken, and Ichigo's mother Misaki were both there as well. The later was also wearing a quincy bangle on her wrist.

"Would you please put up a barrier in this world and the shadow realm?" asked Soken.

Nodding, I willed myself out of my body. I'd been practicing doing that without using an external tool for the past month. Soul reaper me made a series of hand signs to raise the barrier, stepped into the shadow realm, set up a second barrier, and returned to the world of the living, casually remerging with my homunculus self. No one could spy on us, at least not easily.

"What's with the extra people?" asked Sloth.

"Secrecy is vital to our success," said Ryuken. "We couldn't tell you the whole plan until the last minute in case you accidentally let something slip."

"If it makes you feel any better, they haven't told me the whole plan yet either," said Uryu.

"Kanae and Misaki were both targeted by Yhwach's auswahlen before their deaths," said Soken. "As such, they no longer possess a shard of his soul that can be used against them when we face him."

"By stealing my powers, Yhwach gave us the means to end him," said Kanae. "Ryuken was very motivated after I was killed."

"Auswahlen is invariably fatal to the quincy targeted by it," said Ryuken. "If the loss of their powers in a critical moment of battle doesn't kill them, they will die not long after when a blood clot reaches their heart. This blood clot is composed of a unique substance generated by auswahlen called still silver."

"Ryuken extracted the clot from my body and forged it into this." Kanae held up a silver arrowhead. "If still silver makes contact with Yhwach's blood, it will render him temporarily powerless."

"The window of opportunity is a narrow one," said Ryuken. "We will have seconds at most to destroy his soul before his powers return."

"There's only the one arrowhead," I noted. "Yhwach's defenses might be able to keep it from piercing his skin. I can open him up and give you a clear shot at his insides."

"The Seireitei will have no shadows when we strike," said Soken. "They are not the only way someone could attempt to escape when the city burns down. There are several portals known a gates of the sun, which can be used to travel to the world of the living, the Soul Society, or Hueco Mundo. Those will all need to be destroyed while Yhwach is being assassinated."

"Sloth," said Uryu, "since my grandfather's knowledge of the layout is decades out of date, we'll be relying on you to check the minds of the people we encounter for more up to date locations to the gates of the sun. Yhwach's spirit energy should make it obvious whether he's in the throne room or his quarters."

"These cloaks will make yu invisible and undetectable by spiritual senses," said Sloth,handing them out. "More people are coming on this mission than we thought. Fortunately, we have a few older model cloaks. They're just as effective, but they blind the wearer's spiritual senses too. Since some of us can't sense spirit energy anyway, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Uryu's probably told you about these combat enhancement potions," I said, handing out bottles. "They make you stronger, faster, sharper, more resilient, and improve your reaction time. They're most effective when they're calibrated to their user and dangerous to use when they're not. Sorry, Ryuken, Misaki, I don't have a potion for either of you."

"That's all right," said Ryuken. "We'll manage just fine without."

"This second potion is the reason the attack is happening today," I said, measuring small doses of golden liquid into a set of conjured shot glasses. "This is called felix felicis, also known as liquid luck. It is among the most complex and difficult potions I know how to make. This batch took me six months to brew. Each of you has a dose that will last you three hours."

"What do you mean 'liquid luck'? What doe this do?" asked Misaki.

"It basically inverts Murphy's Law," I said. "While under its effects, anything that can go right for you will go right. It has side effects. Giddiness, recklessness, overconfidence. It's also highly addictive, so it should be used only in exceptional circumstances."

Everyone nodded their understanding. Sloth distributed emergency portkeys and I made two more. Then Sloth and I separated our homunculus sand spiritual selves, with homunculus us putting in Mad Eyes and putting on quincy bangles of our own.

Visored me released my power limiters, giving me access to all the spirit energy I'd earned during my stay in hell. Then I donned my mask and released my resureccion. Checking the flexibility of the eight spider legs on my transformed lower body, I released my shikai and wrapped the chain around my waist. Finally, I drew my bakoto and allowed it to embed tentacles into my right arm and form a black scaled gauntlet reaching up to my shoulder.

We synchronized our watches so we could be sure to attack our targets simultaneously. Finally, we lifted our potions to our lips and drank to the success of our mission. Homunculus Sloth and I donned the Ultimate Shield once the potions were gone and we no longer needed lips. Soken used an old artifact to open the gate to Yhwach's palace. We all put on our invisibility cloaks and stepped through, all grinning broadly, certain of our impending victory.

* * *

If you'd seen the shadow realm anywhere else, you would not have recognized the hidden quincy city as being in the same place. The entire structure had been built raised from the corresponding locations in the Seireitei so the shadows of the Seireitei wouldn't be something one had to deal with encountering on a day to day basis. Those sections of the city were under the main level and mainly used for intelligence gathering purposes. The other main difference was that the reshi in this place was every bit as thick and energizing as the location it mirrored. Clearly the quincies living here had spent sometime gathering energy through their shadow gates, aided by the dome of energy produced by the sekiseki stone walls of the Seireitei keeping the gathered energy contained in the city.

Our group split up almost immediately on arrival. Homunculus me waited by the gate we'd entered through, checking my watch to make sure I destroyed the gate at the right time. Sloth led some of the others off to find the other gates. Visored me sensed Yhwach's spiritual pressure and headed for him alongside some of the others.

The felix felicis in our systems ensured no mishaps prevented us from reaching Yhwach's throne room undetected. Positioning ourselves around the room, we watched the father of all quincies holding court while we waited for the appointed time. As luck would have it, Yhwach was meeting with one of his research and development people.

"My lord this weapon will tip the balance of power between the quincies and the soul reapers," boasted the scientist. "Allow me to present the Medallion. By activating it in range of a soul reaper with an active bankai, the Medallion is capable of 'medalizing' the bankai, depriving the soul reaper of its use while giving the quincy who stole it the ability to use it himself. Now the soul reapers' greatest strength will become ours."

"This will be a useful took to add to our arsenal," said Yhwach. "It won't win us the war. No single weapon can, but until the soul reapers find a way to adapt and reclaim what they've lost, it will cause panic, confusion, feelings of violation."

Taking the prototype, a member of Yhwach's court said, "I can't wait to use this on the old man."

"Genryusai Yamamoto's bankai is too powerful for anyone but me to wield safely," said Yhwach, exerting his spiritual pressure to emphasize the point.

"Of course,lord," said the retainer on his knees. Yhwach let up the pressure and allowed the retainer to get back to his feet.

"It's like they mass produced the nightmare Muramasa unleashed without any of the positive side effects," commented Tsumi no Rensa inside my psyche.

"If we get the chance, we should take the prototype," suggested Vaccine. "If only to offer to the soul reapers so they can devise a defense against similar attacks."

It was time. I shifted my cloak with my left hand so I could point my bakoto clad right hand at Yhwach. Channeling blut arte to boost my offensive power, I gathered an orb of black energy at the fingertip of the index finger of my right hand. An instant before the energy released, I threw open my invisibility cloak and screamed, "Cero Oscuras!"

The black cero flew from my fingertip too fast to be dodged and too powerful to be stopped. I'd aimed for Yhwach's right arm,but my cero ended up annihilating the arm, shoulder, and a quarter of his chest. The cero blasted open a hole in the wall behind Yhwach and continued on blasting circular holes in buildings until it struck the membrane around the city. The cero paused for a moment, then burst through, flying off into space at a tangent to the earth's surface.

Yhwach flicked his eyes in my general direction and I was enveloped in a column of light. Spirit neergy was drawn out of me. My resureccion ended, reverting me to huan form as the powers that made it possible vanished. Tsumi no Rensa reverted to sword form then vanished entirely along with my soul reaper powers. Plugged into my spirit energy, the bakoto had its energy sucked out by the spiritual vaccum and reverted to its tuning fork shaped sword form clutched in the hand of my mutilated right arm. The potions in my blood had also had their power drawn away by Yhwach's auswahlen. The spiritual litmus paper fabric of my milita uniform turned white to indicate a complete absence of spirit energy.

While Yhwach was distracted stealing my powers, Kanae fired the still silver arrowhead into Yhwach's open wound with her bangle. The instant the arrowhead hit, Uryu and Ryuken tossed aside their cloaks and obliterated Yhwach with a birage of arrows.

Everything was happening faster than I could process. One of Yhwach's retainers fired an arrow at me, but it was blocked by the shield spells built into my uniform. Another retainer tried to kill Kanae by conjuring a gout of fire from his fingertip, but the fireproofing potions I'd integrated into her combat mix let her shrug it off unharmed.

I reached into my pocket with my left hand and took out a soul candy dispenser. Popping a red pill into my mouth, I was surrounded b a swirl of blue light for an instant. When it cleared, my sword was on my hip again, my uniform was black, and I could feel my spirit energy right back where it should be. I heard sighs of relief from Tsumi no Rensa, Araña, and Vaccine.

I hit the enemy quincies with red stunning hexes, and the others finished them off with arrows. Once the room was clear, I retrieved the medallion, we took out our portkeys, and touched them. Our full strike force appeared clustered a short distance outside the Seireitei's shadow realm reflection. This area looked more like the shadow realm we'd visited in the world of the living, a mostly flat plane with disembodied shadows everywhere.

In the distance, we could see Yhwach's palace burning. Sloth's fiendfyre transformed between flocks of eagles, packs of wolves, snakes, and dragons as the cursed fire devoured everything within the dome. We watched the fiendfyre burn until there was nothing left. Finally, Soken opened a shadow and we returned to the part of the Rukon District that corresponded to our current location in the shadow realm.

Now back in the Soul Society, we could see the entire Seireitei was pitch black under the dome. I started to think three hours might've been a little excessive for this operation.

"I should got tell them what happened," said Visored me. Snapping my fingers, I opened a garganta back to Karakura town. "You guys can head home."

* * *

In Head Captain Yamamoto's office, the darkness cleared. I was leaning against the wall opposite the head captain's desk with my spirit energy suppressed to the point of undetectability.

"What is he meaning of this?" demanded the elderly soul reaper.

"Yhwach, the father of all quincies, is dead," I reported. "His soul was destroyed utterly by Uryu Ishida's arrows. The darkness that covered the Seireitei was my doing as part of a plan to ensure he and his followers could not escape. I apologize for not telling you sooner, but the enemy had the ability to see and hear through every shadow in the Seireitei."

"I have felt Uryu Ishida's spiritual pressure," said Yamamoto. "It is not strong enough to stand against Yhwach."

"Uryu's family has had a thousand years to find a weakness to exploit," I said.

"And what is your connection to all this?"

"Uryu is my friend and Yhwach murdered his mother. Besides," I added forming a bow, "Yhwach's ability to steal the powers of quincies was a Sword of Damocles hanging over my head from the moment I obtained quincy powers."

Suddenly, my bow dissipated, my eyes bulged, and I collapse to the floor, clutching my chest in pain. Yamamoto was at my side in an instant, calling out for the healers of Squad 4. I didn't have long to live if I couldn't focus. I knew what was happening to me and how to fix it.

I closed my eyes tight for an instant and opened them wide. When I did so, the white had turned blacck and the iris yellow. White, bonelike fragments gathered on my face far too slowly for my liking as I desperately gasped for air. My fingertips clung to my forming mask with a desperation born of knowing it represented my only hope for survival.

Green light from Yamamoto's hand eased my pain and made it easier to focus. Without his healing kido, I might not have been able to choke out the words that saved my life. "Weave, Araña."

The explosion of energy that accompanied my shift into my resureccion form threatened to push Yamamoto back, but he held his ground and even maintained the healing kido.

Once fully in my resureccion form, the pain vanished, my breathing eased, and I said, "I'm all right now."

The handful of relief squad members who rushed in paused and reached for their swords when they saw the head captain facing down a spider like hollow with a black body and a white, humanoid upper body with a hole through the chest and an eight eyed, white spider mask.

"Stand down," ordered the head captain with firm authority that brooked no challenges.

"Thank you," I said, reaching into the hole in my chest where my heart had been and pulling out a lump of material that I knew was the still silver clot Ryuken warned me about. I dropped out of resureccion, tentatively checked to make sure I was okay, then removed my mask and let the relief squad look me over.

"Do you know what just happened?" asked Yamamoto.

"I got reckless and almost died because of it," I answered. "Yhwach used a technique called auswahlen to steal my powers. That technique also causes a silver clot to form in the victim's body that is lethal if not removed. I got my powers back and forgot all about the clot."

I recognize the wound," said Yamamoto looking at the small lump of silver in my hand and nodding. "Captain Unohana removed similar objects from the bodies of some of the fallen quincies after my last battle with Yhwach a thousand years ago."

"I hope you can rest easier knowing that's one threat that won't be returning," I said.

"It would seem the Soul Society is in your dept yet again," noted Yamamoto.

"Reopen negotiations with the surviving quincies and find a way to coexist peacefully," I said. "They're the ones who found a way to finish off Yhwach. I helped a little, by closing off escape routes and acting as a distraction, but they're the ones who you have to thank for removing the threat."

Yamamoto nodded.

I opened a garganta and returned to the world of the living.

* * *

Author's comments:  
There was no justification for letting Yhwach get as far as he did in cannon. So many people knew about him ahead of time. So many people understood what is return meant. If he'd come out of nowhere and blindsided everyone, that would have been one thing, but he was a known quantity to almost everyone who mattered. Someone should have thought it was a good idea to assassinate him before he became the omniscient linchpin of creation.


	63. Chapter 72: Culminations

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 72) Culminations  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

The day after Yhwach died, I invited Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Tatski, Keigo, and Mizuiro to the mansion. I liked Kyoko, but I couldn't be sure how she'd react to what I intended to propose. Chizuru, I was still holding a grudge against for making Sloth uncomfortable on her first day. My guests arrived to find a set of appetizers laid out in a gazebo in the front lawn. Unlike the visoreds, none of them had any objections to my cooking.

"I'm surprised Ichigo isn't here," said Mizuiro. "Did he skip out?"

"He wasn't invited," I said.

"Why not?" asked Orihime.

"Don't get me wrong," I said. "I'd love it if he could be a part of this, but until we find a way to fix his spirit energy, he'd only end up feeling more excluded by being here."

"Why don't you tell us why we were called here?" said Uryu.

I nodded. "It's against the Soul Society's laws to transfer soul reaper powers to a human. I've given it some thought, and I'm prepared to break that law on your behalf."

Uryu laughed. "You're asking me to become a soul reaper?" he managed to choke out between laughs.

"I didn't really expect all of you to be interested," I said, "especially you, Uryu, but I had to at least make the offer."

"Why now?" asked Chad.

Taking out a bottle, I said, "The process has a low success rate. Before I finished this potion, the process was more likely to kill you than to work. With it, it's a sure thing."

"Whether you're interested or not, we are going to ask you not to tell the soul reapers about this," said Sloth. "Greed's powerful enough that they couldn't execute him if they tried, but it'd be a pain dealing with it."

"I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll pass," said Mizuiru grabbing some more food.

"Yeah," agreed Keigo. "No offense, but the powers you're offering'll just lead to trouble."

"Well, I'm in," said Tatski. "This'll let me fight on the same level as the rest of you guys, right?"

"I'll be giving you as much spirit energy as your soul can handle safely, which will put you at captain level in terms of raw power," I explained. "Once you've had enough training to get a handle on using those powers, we can talk about hollowfication to increase your soul's strength limit."

"I promised myself I'd get stronger," said Orihime. "When Ichigo gets his powers back, I want to be able to fight alongside him and not be a burden."

"You can count me in as well," said Chad.

"Tatski, Orihime, and Chad," I said nodding. "This won't take long."

Focusing for a moment, Tsumi no Rensa appeared in my left hand. I drew the sword out of its sheath with my right hand and slid the sheath into my belt. Sloth measured a tiny dose of felix felicis for each of them. I started with Tatski, driving my zanpakto through her heart a moment after she swallowed her luck potion. Tatski's body collapsed to the ground and her soul stood over it dressed in the standard black soul reaper uniform. I did the same to Chad and Orihime.

"Now, if you'll climb back into your bodies," I said.

"Um, if we're soul reapers, shouldn't we have swords?" asked Orihime, picking her body up and getting back into it.

"I have blank swords for each of you," I said. "It'll take some time for you to imprint your soul on it. Then you'll have to communicate with it, learn its name, and develop a relationship with it."

Closing his right fist, Chad confirmed that his fullbring powers hadn't been adversely effected. His right arm was covered in red and black armor as normal.

"That reminds me," I said. "Chgad, would you be willing to share your powers with the rest of us?"

"You mentioned a while back fullbringers can transfer their powers to sub statue soul reapers," recalled Chad.

"Here's what I'm thinking," I said. "I'll take a reshi sample from you now and make a mod soul pill of your powers as they are now. You'll transfer your fullbring to Orihime, and I'll make a backup of her powers. Then she'll transfer your fullbring to Tatski, I'll make her backup pill, and she transfers them to me. At which point, everyone takes heir pill and all four of us will have Brazo Derecho Del Gigante and Brazo De Izquierda Del Diablo."

"That sounds good," said chad. "You should make an extra pill for me so I can pass on my powers to Ichigo when he's got his powers back."

"We'll do that when its time," I said. "Your powers will gave grown and developed by then. You'll probably have a shikai at least. Using an old pill will mean undoing your spiritual development."

"I guess that makes sense," said Chad.

Transferring Chad's fullbring abilities between us was remarkably straightforward. After I took his reshi sample, Chad summoned the armored form of his arms and willed them to Orihime. The armored coverings turned to green light and flew to Orihme's body, reforming over her arms. After another reshi sample, Orihime had no problem willing the fullbring to Tatski. Then finally, Tatski transferred it to me. I dismissed the armored coverings from my arms and set to work turning the reshi samples into mod soul pills.

After taking his pill, Chad confirmed it worked by calling up the armored form of his arms. Tatski, Orihime, and I made fists and concentrated, but nothing happened for us.

"Did it work?" asked Tatski.

"I think so," I said. "It's just none of us knows how to use fullbring. After we learn how, the power should be there waiting for us."

* * *

After everyone had gone home and the gazebo had been cleaned up, Sloth and I left the semipublic part of the mansion to curl up together on the sofa in our private suite and unwind in front of the television. Sloth caught me staring at my right fist as I idly tried manifesting Chad's fullbring, but she didn't comment on it.

Instead, she said, "I know offering everyone soul reaper powers was on the agenda, and you've wanted fullbring since you learned about it, but isn't Captain Komumura coming over next week to help us wiht Loki's powers? I get you were eager to get started now that we have the felix felicis, but wouldn't it have been better to wait until after Komumura headed back to the Soul Society?"

"Yes. Yes it would have," I said, slapping my forehead. "When did you realize?"

"Just now," said Sloth. "How bad is this going to be?"

Thinking, I said, "Probably not too bad. We warned them to keep this a secret from the Soul Society. Sajin might not notice the change in their power. He hasn't been spending much time in the world of the living. If he does find out, the worst thing he can do is refuse to help with Loki."

"If he doesn't want to help, we can still move forward with giving Loki spirit energy, but teaching him flash step is going to be a lot harder."

"I guess there's no point worrying about it now," I said. "What's done is done."

"You're probably right," said sloth. "We'll deal with it either way."

* * *

While awaiting Captain Komumura's arrival, I busied myself studying the medallion I'd taken from the quincy city before it was destroyed. The small device was relatively simple to activate. It functioned by extracting and enslaving the zanpakto spirit of an active bankai. It was clearly based, at least in part, on what Muramasa had done to the zanpaktos a few months ago.

I'd hoped the medallion would represent an enhancement for Uryu, but the way it worked precluded me proposing that. Even if Uryu were he sort of person who was okay with enslaving a zanpakto spirit, I wasn't okay with it. I'd been able to learn enough about the device to make more from scratch if the non-horrible application presented itself. Until then, I'd hand over the tool to the Soul Society so they could work on countermeasures.

I sensed the senkaimon opening just outside the boundary of the fideleous charm. Picking up the medallion, I headed out to greet Sajin. Loki trotted happily at my side.

The tall, wolf faced captain dropped to one knee and held out a band as we approached. "Loki, it's been a while. It's good to see you. Greed asked me to come help you talk to each other. He has something important he wants to talk about." After listening a moment, Komumura nodded to me.

"Loki, I love you," I began, stroking his head. "You remember when we met? All that time we spent in the lab fixing your body? I did that so you'd be healthy and happy. I gave you the ability to transform so you'd be strong and safe."

"He's always understood all of that," said Sajin. "He's grateful for everything you've done for him and he loves you too."

I wiped away a tear and continued, "I have a way to make you stronger. It might hurt when I do it, but afterward, you'll be stronger and have new power Sajin's offered to teach you how to use."

"He understands and wants you to do it," said Sajin.

Transmuting a small dish, I poured a small amount of felix felicis into it, put away the bottle, and drew my zanpakto. Loki sniffed the offered potion before lapping it up. I drove Tsumi no Rensa through Loki's heart and channeled m spirit energy into him.

Loki's body collapsed lifelessly to the ground. Standing over it was a spirit that looked just like my floppy eared brown dog wearing a black soul reaper uniform. Adorable as he looked, he was not comfortable in the clothes and wasted no time wiggling and squirming out of them.

"That's your body," said Sajin. "One of the powers you have now lets you leave your body. It's tricky to do it at will, but Greed can help you until you get the hang of it. While you're like this, most people can't see you."

It took all day, but Sajin managed to teach Loki a basic flash step. He'd improve with practice, and now I'd be taking him with me on my morning runs. Since his raw spirit energy was captain level, I was confident he'd improve quickly.

A few quick tests confirmed that Loki's spirit energy multiplied with his chimera form. Sajin confirmed my suspicion that Loki wasn't going to be bonding with a zanpakto. While it's theoretically possible to wield a sword without hands, there really wasn't much point.

"I think you should be able to handle the rest on your own," said Sajin as he opened the senkaimon to return to the Soul Society. "I've enjoyed spending time with both of you. It's a good thing you only used this potion to give Loki soul reaper powers. If there were any evidence you did more than that, Central 46 might order your arrest."

"I's a good thing they'll never find evidence of anything like that," I said.

Sajin nodded as the senkaimon closed and disappeared.

* * *

It turned out I was naturally bad at fullbring. The mindset for using it involved establishing an emotional connection with an object's unique soul. My alchemy focus left me thinking of objects as replaceable collections of components to be disassembled and reassembled. Tatski and Orihime had managed to summon the arm armor on their first day of instruction from Chad and were using bringer light for high speed movement within a week. I needed a full month of coaching, meditation, and introspection before I worked out exactly what was holding me back. From there, I made slow progress, but the mindset still felt unnatural.

While I was struggling with fullbring, I was teaching the others both flash step and apparition. Uryu joined us for the later lessons. I'd been putting off apparition training in the hope that Ichigo would be able to join us, but it was becoming increasingly clear that the solution to his problem wasn't going to be a simple one.

Sloth spent much of her time studying the hogyoku. She replicated parts of the Soul Gem and Grief Seed outer shell structure and wrapped them around the hogyoku to see if she codl gain any insight into ho they functioned. It was slow work mapping hte entire structure, but she stuck with it.

"The Incubators don't have any idea what they're doing," said Sloth, dropping a stack of papers on the coffee table and flopping onto the couch.

I carefully returned the bubble of glowing green water I'd been levitating with bringer light to its glass before responding, "What've you found?"

"Familiars," said Sloth. "It's been bothering me for a while. The Incubators can harvest energy when they grant a wish, and again when a magical girl becomes a witch. Familiars and witches born from them don't benefit the Incubators at all, so why are they a thing?"

"You're saying they're not a deliberate part of hte system?" I asked.

"When I turned into a witch, the outer casing of my Soul Gem didn't smoothly transform into that of a Grief Seed. It exploded and a new Grief Seed formed to contain it. That's basically the same thing that happens when a familiar becomes a witch. The new Grief Seed just forms around it. In the case of a new witch, it forms so the Incubators can harvest the energy. When it forms around a familiar, it's a side effect, a false positive on the detection system.

"Once I figured out what was going on, I figured out how to trigger it manually. We don't even need to use your bankai to sacrifice Nazis anymore."

"So, you can just turn familiars into witches at will," I summarized.

"Every Soul Gem and Grief Seed has the equipment installed to do it. I can turn it on to upgrade a familiar to a witch and I can turn it off so after the Soul Gem explodes it won't form a Grief Seed to collect the energy."

"What would happen instead?" I asked.

"It's hard to say," said Sloth. "I know the energy harvesting is what makes Soul Gems and Grief Seeds so much more fragile than the hogyoku. Whatever it turned into, it'd probably be indestructible. If it stayed one conscious whole, it'd still be full of grief. It might end up some sort of super witch. With access to the energy the Incubators wanted to harvest from it, it could effect the entire universe."

"I can sort of see why the Incubators decided to err on their detection systems being too sensitive," I said. "The risk of some sort of super witch eating the universe would be scary even for them."

"Except the problem is, they aren't scared enough," said Sloth. "If they were, every familiar that left its witch would get its own Grief Seed."

"They've been doing this for a long time," I argued. "If that could happen, it'd have happened by now. They've got a big enough margin of error."

"Maybe so, but if I can disable it, someone else could too."

"Which would explain why they always have a Kyubey following magical girls around," I said. "They're making sure no one figures out how to disrupt the process."

"That sounds like them."

"I'm assuming you don't want to become a super witch," I said. "Find anything useful for improving your powers?"

"I've managed to verify Grief Seeds don't have anything Soul Gems don't," said Sloth. "It's a limiter that keeps magical girls from using grief. I'm still narrowing it down, but once I find it, I can switch it off and never have to worry about Grief Seeds again."

"Any hints about why that limiter exists?" I asked.

"Because the Incubators are evil. If that limiter weren't there, magical girls would never build up grief and turn into witches, and they'd only be able to harvest energy from the spike of hope that comes when a wish is granted."

"Assuming there are no downsides, evil's probably the best word for it," I said. "A system like that, with magical girls and no witches would still let them harvest energy to counter entropy. All the suffering is just so they can double dip."

"I'm on track to prove it before the Oin shows up next month. I'll get one last chance to be stronger than you before you become a god."

"We don't actually know what the Oin will do for me," I said. "The power of a god is pretty vague. I mean, Barragan claims he's a god and he's a part of my bankai ever since I crushed his skull with my bare hands."

"So you're saying I might still be stronger than you even with the Oin," said Sloth. "I like the sound of that."

"I still don't understand why no one was using it against Aizen," I said. "We were the only ones who brought more than our standard weapons to that fight."

"Why knows what they were thinking?" said Sloth. "They couldn't figure out guns were useful even after you armed the militia. Outside the box thinking isn't their strong suit."

"I presume those are your notes on your Soul Gem research so far," I said, touching the stack and assimilating the knowledge using red stones in my pocket. "Wow, you've almost got enough figured out to make our own Soul Gems from scratch."

"It's a solution I was considering for Ichigo," said Sloth, fidgeting with her hands in her lap. "Even if I can't figure out how to grant wishes like the Incubators do, once I remove my limiters, Ichigo could have his own Soul Gem with the limiters off."

"Let's not risk getting his hopes up until we have something more solid," I suggested.

"I wasn't planning to tell him until it was an offer," said Sloth. "So, I never asked. How's the fullbring training going?"

"The mindset's still hard to get into," I said. "The one big plus is that finally there's a power that's just mine."

"Just yours?" asked Sloth, not understanding.

"Tsumi no Rensa has my soul reaper powers. Araña has my hollow powers, and Vaccine has my quincy powers. Fullbring's the first spiritual power I've picked up that none of them have. It's hard to use, but I don't feel like I'm borrowing it from one of the spirits living in my soul."

"It's still weird to me how comfortable you are with three split personalities rattling around in your head."

"It's a lot different from the way your split personality worked," I said. "We're all aware what's going on at all times, the body's mine period, and we can all talk to each other."

"I get that you're okay with the situation," said Sloth. "I just wouldn't be. If I lose my Soul Gem, I'm not going the soul reaper route."

"Fair enough," I said. "I think all four of us are looking forward to me being able to project them into the outer world."

"Did Ichigo ever figure out what was going on with his zanpakto?" asked Sloth.

"I told him what I knew before his training in the dangai. Afterward, I didn't ask, since whatever the answer is, it wouldn't matter after his spirit energy faded away."

"Does him losing his powers mean those spirits are dead?"

"Dormant," I replied. "If we can find a way to restore his powers, they'll be there."

"You know, we can cure magical girls," mused Sloth. "We have spare souls and you can transfer their minds off their Soul Gems. We were planning on going back to kill Kyubey anyway. Do you think we could get someone to wish his powers back?"

"Not something I'd considered," I admitted. "I feel like I'd rather exhaust all conventional methods of dealing with it first."

"Like using the Oin," said Sloth. "You wouldn't be much of a god if you couldn't cure him."

"I'm still trying to temper my expectations," I said. "Still, hopefully it'll open up new options."

* * *

Today was the day. Assuming the Soul Society didn't notice my tampering and find a way to deal with it, the Oin would be delivering itself to me this afternoon. Taking a quick glance at the foeglass on my nightstand, I verified no new faces appeared. Kyubey's distant profile was visible far in the background and the blurry distant humanoid enemies that had been there since coming to this world were down to seven.

I climbed out of bed and touched the remembral on my nightstand next to the foeglass and sneakoscope. No reaction, so no memory manipulation to worry about. With a thought, my boots, pants, and vest appeared on my body. I grabbed my utility belt off its hook, fastened it on and headed downstairs to make breakfast.

Since Nozomi made her decision and went into stasis with the rest of the mod souls, it'd just been me and Loki around the mansion. After transmuting a big breakfast for the two of us, I set Loki's dish down and called him. The brown dog appeared at his dish almost the instant I called him using flash step.

"We've got a big day ahead of us, boy," I said as he started eating. "If the soul reapers do notice its gone, we want to give them as little reason to suspect us as possible, so we can't vary our routine."

Once the food was done and I'd transmuted our plates clean, Loki and I headed out for our morning run. I took four laps around Karakura Town, each lap using a different highs peed movement technique, flash step, hirenkyaku, soinido, and bringer light. Loki being able to flash step meant he could join me on my run, which had been a nice change these past few months.

After our run, Loki and I stopped by Karakura High School before the opening bell rang to say hi to our friends still attending. It hadn't made sense to keep going myself after the school year ended. I'd likewise quit the various martial arts and kendo classes. With no looming threats, I wasn't time turning in a desperate effort to get as much training and preparation as possible anymore, and as a result, there were only so many hours in the day.

That wasn't to say I was neglecting my combat training. After I left the high school, I headed down tot he Visored warehouse. Most of the Visoreds had accepted the Soul Society's offer to return. Some of them had even retaken the vacant captain positions. Hyori had opted to stay in the world of the living and nurse her grudge against the soul reapers for banishing her in the first place a bit longer. Hadji stayed to keep her company.

My bankai was great for training. Since every fallen enemy I manifested took up a chunk of my spirit energy, I could use them in conjunction with my other power limiters to calibrate my spirit energy to the level of my training partner's while simultaneously arranging for additional sparring partners for each of us. Hyori took full advantage. We usually worked on our spiritual combat together until lunch.

While my soul was out training with Hyori, homunculus me hung around chatting with Hadji. The gentle, pink haired half giant was an absolute genious with kido and enjoyed talking about magical theory. I kept notes on his ideas and insights that I planned on eventually editing into a textbook for Liore's magic school. I liked to think he found my thoughts similarly valuable.

After pulling myself together, Loki and I apparaed to the school roof to share lunch with our friends. There hadn't been any hollow alerts in a few days. The extra zanpaktos meant more konsos were getting done so fewer souls had the chance to hollowfy.

The afternoon was when I worked on my own research. After waving goodbye to the others, I returned to the mansion. Ordinarily, I'd get back to analyzing the Grief Cubes I'd brought to this world and the notes I'd taken on the magical girl system that had taken Sloth from me, but today, I set that work aside to look over the weapon that had delivered itself to my lab.

The Oin was a royal artifact. Stealing it was a high crime. About a year ago, I'd helped Captain Hitsugaya recover it from a thief, and during the brief time I had it in my possession, I'd cast a timed portkey spell on it that had caused it to teleport from wherever it was being protected directly to my lab.

It was a small, golden seal a bit smaller than my fist. I'd risked the Soul Society's ire because the artifact purported had the ability to grant the power of a god. The thief who'd stolen it originally didn't meet the qualifications for using that power. In the time since I set this up, I'd acquired those qualifications.

Now that I had the Oin, I decided to play it safe. I spent two hours making extensive scans. Then I entered a sealed experimental chamber in spirit form with the Oin while the scanners continued to record. Homunculus me monitored the readings. I drew my zanpakto, took a deep breath, and said, "Bankai, Hofuku no Rensa!"

Using my chainsaw whip technique, I cut the Oin in two. The two pieces dissolved into golden light which entered my spiritual body. I felt a great swell of energy unlike anything I'd experienced before.

I was stable. There didn't seem to be any risk of this power going out of control. After taking some scans and reshi samples, the next step was to find out if what I'd done was reversible. I channeled the energy into the palm of my hand and successfully remanifested the Oin. Scans confirmed my intuition that I was back in the same stat I'd been in before I cut the artifact.

Placing the Oin inside a barrier like the one I kept Aizen's hogyoku in, I merged with my homunculus self and locked the artifact away. I had a mountain more experiments planned, but first I needed to go over the data carefully. Rushing something like this could prove disastrous.

Keeping my excitement in check using my occlumency training, I went out to meet with Chad, Orihime, and Tatski for their regular, after school soul reaper training. I'd have liked to do more tests on the Oin, but I couldn't risk varying my routine and drawing suspicion about the theft. The three of them stayed for dinner, then apparated home.

* * *

Over the next few months, no one from the Soul Society came looking for the Oin. I learned a great deal about the artifact, including the fact that some of its powers could be accessed without cutting it and drawing in its power.

The Oin's power could be used to create, destroy, or rearrange matter and energy like a combination of alchemy and transfiguration without the limits of either discipline. I was still limited by my knowledge in terms of what I could create and how I could reconfigure things, but I found no limit in how much matter and energy I could use in the course of my admittedly limited scale experiments.

Space time manipulation abilities came along with the matter and energy manipulation. I was able to effortlessly teleport between the world of the living, the Soul Society, the dangai, Hueco Mundo, the garganta, and hell as well as the shadow realms of each. Creating pocket dimensions of arbitrary sizes was a trivial task. Within a selected, I could speed up, slow down, stop, or reverse the flow of time. The later worked like Orihime's healing shield or Hadji's kido, just much faster.

As I experimented with the Oin's power, I had to keep reminding myself of the tragedy of the Elric brothers' attempt to bring back their mother. Their attempt, undertaken without full understanding, had brought into existence a new being, tortured by the knowledge she was an imperfect copy. As tempting as this new power was, I couldn't risk using it to try and bring back Sloth. Not until I had a better idea of exactly what the Incubators had done to her soul and what the Law of Cycles did to her Soul Gem when it disappeared.

The fact that the Oin did not grant knowledge or understanding similarly limited my ability to use it to help Ichigo regain his powers. Time turning with the Oin's power in me would frankly be more obvious than doing so without, and if I knew what needed to be done to Ichigo's soul to let him hold spiritual pressure again, I could have done so conventionally.

While the Oin didn't let me just will my two biggest goals complete, it did open up options that would otherwise be closed to me. The large scale space time manipulation meant I could create an Oken by sacrificing Karakura Town and then put everything back the way it was. I had no business in the royal realm, so I saw no need to do so, but the option was now open.

Of greater relevance was the ability to forge an arbitrary number of Philosopher's Stones. I didn't even need to repeatedly destroy a city. I knew enough about the physical makeup and energy qualities of the Stone to manifest them directly with the Oin's control over matter and energy. This, in turn, allowed me to brew an arbitrary quantity of elixir of life capable of curing any illness.

Simply manifesting another hogyoku was out due to my incomplete knowledge. Likewise, Grief Cubes still needed to be constructed the hard way, by producing artificial soul pills, extracting emotional energy using the method I'd developed based on Kiske's hogkyoku research, and shaping them into cubes to match the wraith created originals I'd brought with me.

Once I was comfortable using the Oin, I put the artifact back in its barrier and put it with the armory of weapons I'd be bringing with me to fight Kyubey when the time came to leave this world. That neigh omnipotent power would be needed to deal with the unfeeling cosmic horror, but until then, replying on it would stunt my growth and alienate me from the friends who've helped keep me sane through my grief.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Madoka's wish has come. She retroactively destroyed every witch before it was born throughout all timelines. She killed Sloth and Greed doesn't remember that she came back while in this world. The remembral didn't trigger because it was the past, not Greed's memory that had changed.


	64. Chapter 73: Welcome Xcution

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 73) Welcome Xcution  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

Chad, Orihime, and Tatski had all undergone hollowficaiton. I'd used the hogyoku I'd claimed from Aizen and one of my own arrows. Vaccine helped mentor them through the process of getting control and mastering their hollow powers since he'd been learning along with me.

One evening, I was transmuting the blasted landscape of the mansion's grounds back into something presentable. I'd been working with the others on cero variants, and there was no way for that not to have caused widespread destruction. Everyone had gone home for the day. Suddenly, my soul phone triggered an alert.

I'd made some fairly extensive mods to my phone that went well beyond the soul synthesized silver outer casing. One of those modifications let me tap into the data transmissions sent by various pieces of Soul Society surveillance equipment. This particular alert, I'd set over a year ago. I could scarcely believe it, but Ichigo's combat pass was transmitting.

The Substitute Soul Reaper combat pass was designed to run off its owner's spirit energy. When Ichigo had lost his powers, his combat pass went inert. I rushed down to my lab where I could get a more detailed readout of what the newly reactivated badge was sending out.

The first thing I confirmed was that the spiritual pressure was coming from Ichigo and not someone else using his badge. The readings were too low for this to be from him taking one of the pills I'd given him as an emergency measure. He wouldn't even have enough power to see ghosts, but according to the readings, he was stable.

Somehow, Ichigo's spirit had begun to recover on its own from using the final getsuga tensho. It wasn't much, but the fact that he could sustain spiritual pressure without it fading away opened the door to treatment options that weren't available before. I'd have to consult with Kiske before taking any concrete steps, but it was likely we'd be able to restore Ichigo's full powers soon.

I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Ichigo's spirit energy starting to recover meant he'd once again be a target for hollows. If one attacked him in this state, he'd likely take one of the pills I'd given him, reintroducing his unstable spirit energy and sabotaging his chances for a full recovery. I couldn't let that happen.

Turning on the spot, I apparated to Ichigo's house. I didn't sense any threats nearby. The lights were on, so the family hadn't gone to bed yet. I knocked on the door.

Karin answered. "Hey, Greed. What's up?"

"Hi, Karin," I greeted her. "I need to speak to your brother."

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Not exactly," I said. "A while back, I gave Ichigo some pills in case of an emergency. I recently discovered a problem with them and I need to take them back before he takes one."

"Come on in," said Karin, stepping aside. "My brother's in his room."

"Thanks," I said, dismissing my shoes and coming inside.

I waved to Ishin and Yuzu who were watching television in the living room before heading upstairs. "Ichigo?" I said, knocking on his bedroom door.

"Greed?" asked Ichigo as he opened the door.

"Hi. How you doin'?"

"It's been quieter since Kon decided to move to your world with the other mod souls," said Ichigo. His eyes drifted to the stuffed lion on his shelf that the mod soul had used as a body when he wasn't inhabiting Ichigo's. "You don't usually stop by this late. What's up?"

"It's about your powers," I said. He perked up and took notice as I explained. "A few minutes ago, your combat pass sent out a signal. It's detecting minute traces of spiritual pressure coming from you."

"I thought my spirit energy was gone for good," said Ichigo, trying hard not to get his hopes up.

"It might be that everyone who uses the final getsuga tensho eventually recovers to this level and the technology hasn't been there to detect the traces of spiritual pressure. They are very small. Alternately, your recovery has something to do with you being Aizen's pet science experiment. It's not like the other people who used it had hollow powers. The point is it's there and if you can maintain spiritual pressure again, we might be able to restore your powers fully."

"What do I need to do?" asked Ichigo.

"Do you still have those emergency pills I made you?"

"Yeah," said Ichigo digging the soul candy dispenser out of his school bag. "They're right here."

"Give them to me," I said, holding out my hand. Ichigo placed the dispenser in my hand. "Taking one of these would destabilize your powers and you'd lose your chance to fully recover. I'll lock these up for now and destroy them once we've got you fixed up."

Ichigo nodded. "What's next?"

"I need to talk to Kiske about the best way to do this. We shouldn't take more than a few days to figure it out. While we're working on it, take this kido gun. You may not have recovered much spirit energy yet, but it's enough to attract hollows. You should be able to see hollows through the scope."

"Greed, I can't even see the gun," said Ichigo, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, sorry," I said, stripping away the visual barrier from the weapon. "I came straight over when I realized the problem the pills could've caused. I didn't do any preparations. The gun's just something I had on me."

"Which explains why you didn't realize I'd have trouble walking around with a visible rifle."

"Put this bag on your belt," I said, handing it to him with the gun. "It's bigger on the inside. You can keep the kido gun in there and pull it out when you need it."

"Is there anything else I need to do?" asked Ichigo.

"Keep your badge on you so we can monitor your spirit energy," I said. "If there's anything else, we'll let you know."

* * *

"It's a good thing you didn't just stab him," said Kiske after I'd filled him in.

"You don't think that'll work?" I asked.

"Oh, it might if he's lucky," he said meaningfully. "Personally, I'd rather not rely on luck, even if you can bottle it. Besides, Ichigo's badge is transmitting. You could get away with Chad, Tatski, and Orihime. Plausible deniability, but give Ichigo back his powers and not only would they know it was you, but they'd have a recording as proof. They'd have no choice but to act."

"We're not just going to not give Ichigo his powers back," I said firmly.

"That's not what I'm suggesting," said Kiske. "What I'd like to do is talk to the Soul Society. Ichigo saved everyone in the fight with Aizen. They owe him and they know it. I think I can talk them into making an exception."

"If you can't, I'm doing it anyway," I warned him. "It's almost time for me to leave this world anyway. Restoring Ichigo was the last thing on my list here."

"Even so, I think Ichigo'd be happier if you could come back and visit without the stealth force coming after you."

"If you think you can convince them," I said nodding.

"As for how, I've been working on something in case we ever got an opportunity like this," said Kiske. He retrieved a tall jar containing a faintly glowing translucent object shaped like a sword. "There isn't a real blade, so you can run someone through, slash at them, whatever, and it won't hurt them at all. It eliminates the random chance from the process of making substitute soul reapers. Charge it with spirit energy, run someone through, and they become a soul reaper."

"I'd like the design for that," I said, impressed.

Kiske tossed me a data cube, then said, "It can hold a charge more or less indefinitely if I keep it in the jar. You might as well put your spirit energy in now."

I nodded, then gripped the hilt. I didn't hold back. The way Ichigo grew, he'd have been a hundred times more powerful than I was if he'd had his powers for the last year and a half. I kept just enough spirit energy to apparate and use my shikai. Everything else went toward restoring Ichigo.

"I don't expect the wait will be very long," said Kiske. "You should go home and get some rest."

* * *

I could have restored my powers using one of my pills, but after Ichigo got his soul reaper powers back, someone would need to transfer Chad's fullbring to him. I figured I'd wait until then, transfer the power to him, then take my pill afterward. The fraction of power I retained was enough to de4al with any ordinary hollow, so I wasn't particularly concerned.

I let Ichigo know that Kiske expected everything to be ready in a few days before he headed into class the next morning. While we spoke, Loki was agitated by an unfamiliar spiritual pressure lurking nearby. After Ichigo headed inside, I walked toward the source of the spiritual pressure with Loki at my side.

Before I got close enough to spot the source, it moved down a blind alley. Whoever this as, they wanted to speak privately. I could respect that.

In the alley, I saw the source, a broad shouldered man with long, black, slicked back hair wearing a cross shaped pendant. His spirit energy was a lot higher than mine was at the moment, but lower than Loki's.

"You're a difficult man to contact," he said.

I smiled. "Kugo Ginjo, the first substitute soul reaper. The man who's actions led to the law against transferring soul reaper powers to humans and thus not only making life difficult for me and my friends, but stunting human development worldwide."

"I see my reputation precedes me," said Ginjo with a smile of his own. "I hope you'll be willing to listen to my side of things before you write me off as an enemy, Greed."

"The magic mirror on my night stand seems to think you're my enemy," I said casually. "It showed me your face this morning, along with those of your friends. The fact that you're here talking to me when I'm seemingly vulnerable certainly isn't helping your case, but I can't see the harm in hearing you out."

"Glad to hear it," said Ginjo. "First off, that law you're blaming me for, I'm not the one who wrote it."

"Fair enough," I acknowledged. "It was made as a response to you murdering soul reapers and taking their power, but there was nothing stopping Central 46 from making a more reasonable law than they did."

"I think you and I both agree some soul reapers need killing," said Ginjo. "Why let their power go to waste?"

"Again, fair point," I said with a nod.

"How much do you know about the soul reaper captains you've been calling your allies?" asked Ginjo.

"They're a collection of feudal warlords," I said. "Individually, some have scruples or ethical codes, but they're all powerful enough, physically and politically, that no one can effectively enforce an ethical position on them from the outside, my curses and binding magical contracts with Captain Kurotsuchi notwithstanding. Half of them don't seem to realize this, but I'm pretty sure the senior captains, at least, have the gist of it."

Ginjo blinked. "That was not what I was expecting you to say. If you understand that much, why are you still allied with them?"

"What would you have me do? Kill them all and set myself up as king? How would that be any different from what they have now?"

"Didn't you just get through talking about how their laws are stunting human development? You have the power to change that, or at least you did until you handed most of your power over to Kiske Urahara last night."

"I think it's time to talk specifics, Ginjo," I said. "What do you want from me?"

"It sounds like you're not interested in helping me overthrow the Soul Society," said Ginjo. "I won't pretend I'm not disappointed, but I do have an alternate proposal. I represent a group of fullbringers called Xcution. You've developed a method for duplicating fullbringer powers. Yasutora Sado, Orihime Inue, Tatski Arisawa, and yourself all possess the same fullbring abilities. If you'll do the same for us, you can keep a copy of those fullbrings for yourself.

"I'll even sweeten the deal. Your friend, Ichigo Kurosaki, you're counting on Kiske Urahara to restore his powers. I know a way to help Ichigo not only recover his soul reaper powers but gain new powers on top of it. What do you say?"

"That's a tempting offer," I said, considering. "Cross of Scaffold, Dollhouse, Invaders Must Die, Dirty Boots, Time Tells No Lies, Jackpot Knuckle, and Book of the End plus you'll help Ichigo. I'd take it in a heartbeat if you weren't planning to betray us, kill me, and steal Ichigo's powers."

At a signal from me, Loki vanished from my side in a burst of blue and red alchemic light. Behind me, a tall man with wavy brown hair holding a sword was pinned to the ground by my three hundred pound, green scaled, gold maned chimera. Claws sharp enough to sever a man's arm threatened to do just that if Ginjo's comrade who'd been about to ambush me from behind moved a muscle. A low growl rumbled from Loki's throat as he bared his fangs and stared down Ginjo's backup.

"You've been reading my mind," said Ginjo, comprehension dawning.

"I still am," I said. "That's how I know Loki has Tsukishima pinned behind me without needing to turn around. Now, how about I offer you a new deal? Hand over your Cross of Scaffold to me. Then I'll destroy your soul chain and soul sleep, permanently ridding you of your soul reaper powers. Then I'll let you go and tell the Soul Society you're no longer a threat."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then after I destroy your powers anyway, I turn you over to the Soul Society. At which point, they'll decide what to do with you."

"Then I guess you're going to have to live with the disappointment of not getting my powers," said Ginjo.

Green light enveloped Ginjo's cross shaped pendant, transforming it into a massive sword somehow more unwieldy than Ichigo's shikai with a hollowed out section of the blade containing a second handle. Somehow, I suspected I'd learn to live with not adding that ridiculous thing to my arsenal.

With a thought, Tsumi no Rensa was in my hand. For what I intended, shikai wouldn't be needed, so I left it sealed in sword form. Ginjo swung at me, a massive overhead chop. I sidestepped the swing and stepped inside his guard. I feinted toward Ginjo's chest and he raised his massive sword to block. He was so focused on my sword, he completely missed the blue sparks of alchemic light that came off the sole of my boot as I stepped inside his guard. He bent his knees to jump and get some distance from me, but found his feet were embedded in concrete halfway up his shins.

I took advantage of his moment of surprise to strike Ginjo's wrist with the hand not holding my zanpakto. Ginjo's sword flew out of his grip and clattered to the ground a few feet out of his reach.

"What the hell? You were hiding your spirit energy?" guessed Ginjo, his eyes wide.

"Nope," I said. "You're just so outclassed I didn't need more spirit energy than this to beat you."

He shook his head. "With the spirit energy I'm sensing, there's no way you could move fast enough to evade my attack or hit hard enough to knock my sword away."

I shifted to my pale skinned, black haired homunculus form. Staring him down with purple, slitted eyes, I said "I have strength and speed that have nothing to do with spirit energy. Your higher spirit energy would give you a reflex advantage, but the fact that I'm reading your mind negates that." I smiled, revealing pointed, shark like teeth and said, "I'm feeling generous, so I'm going to offer you a second chance to take the deal."

Suddenly, the ground split open along a crack running the length of the alley. The crack broke open the concrete I'd transmuted over Ginjo's feet and forced Loki to shift his feet. That gave Tsukishima just enough of an opening to cut Loki's paw with his sword.

And like that, I was surrounded. I'd mined Ginjo's mind for everything he knew. The young man who'd appeared at the end of the alley was named Shishigowara. His fullbring, Jackpot Knuckle, had the power to alter probability. Any hit he landed with his fullbring empowered brass knuckles was always the luckiest hit possible. He wasn't part of Ginjo's plan meeting with me here. He'd apparently tagged along on his own in case he was needed. By punching the ground, a combination of ordinary wear and tear and the section of pavement thinned by my alchemy allowed for that crack to open in just the right way to free Ginjo and Tsukishima.

The nature of Tsukishima's power, Book of the End, allowed him to insert himself into the past of anyone and anything he cut with his sword. The tiny cut he'd made to Loki's paw that wasn't even bleeding meant Loki wasn't my dog anymore. He was Tsukishima's.

"It's a good thing I showed up when I did, huh, Mr. Tsukishima?" said Shishigowara as Tsukishima got to his feet and set a hand on Loki's mane.

"Loki, restrain him," said Tsukishima.

Before I could react, Loki pounced using every bit of speed and power his spirit energy enhanced, alchemically engineered body could bring to bear. I was flat on my back. My arms were theoretically pinned by Loki's fore paws, but my homunculus strength had the chimera outmatched by such a wide margin, the only thing he'd really accomplished was knocking me off my feet. That was all it took. I felt Tsukishima's blade cut into my forearm.

* * *

"You're late," said Hyori when Loki and I arrived at the Visoreds' warehouse.

"I ran into an old friend I hadn't seen in a while," I explained. "I don't know why you're upset. Our sparring matches are on hold for the next few days anyway since I don't have much of my spirit energy."

"What do you mean you don't have your spirit energy?" demanded Hyori. "What happened to it?"

"Kiske didn't tell you guys?"

Hadji and Hyori shook their heads.

"Ichigo's spirit energy is starting to recover. I donated my spirit energy to help jump start the process."

"That's wonderful news," said Hadji. "I know you blamed yourself for not stopping Aizen before Ichigo's sacrifice became necessary."

"I'll sleep a lot better once he's got his powers back," I acknowledged.

"I bet he's gotten soft over the last year," said Hyori. "Bring him by once his powers are back and I'll whip him back into shape."

* * *

When I stopped by the school after class, the gate off the grounds was being guarded by a gang of a dozen or so street toughs. They were yelling something about wanting to beat Ichigo up. Most of them were armed with some blunt weapon or another. I thought I saw a knife or two.

"You losers have three options," I said as I strolled up to the gate. "Clear out, I call the cops to make you clear out, or we can do this the fun way."

"Are you Ichigo Kurosaki?" demanded their overweight ring leader, getting in my face.

"Fun way it is," I said, picking him up by his jacket one handed and tossing him into his lackeys like a bowling ball.

"He's some kind of freak," declared one of the punks with an aluminum baseball bat. Swinging it at my head, he called out, "Let's get him."

I caught the bat and crumpled it in my fist like a soda can. The punks with wooden swords who'd started charging me stopped in their tracks when they saw that.

"No one else?" I asked, sweeping my gaze across the crowd who flinched back. "Then I suggest you run along and hope I don't catch you at anything like this again."

The lot of them scurried away. I caught sight of Ichigo approaching and waved greetings.

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me," said Ichigo.

"Battles?" I asked, looking after the fleeing punks. "Spirit energy or no, those guys wouldn't have even had you breathing hard. Hyori wanted me to mention you should stop by once your powers are back so she can give you a decent sparring match. If you're that hard up for a workout, I can put my bracers on and go a few rounds while we're waiting for Kiske to get back."

At that point, a van pulled up to the gate and a woman stepped out. Ichigo ducked behind me, sweating nervously.

"Who's that?" I asked, shifting my stance.

"My boss," said Ichigo.

"Ichigo, I'm tired of your lame excuses to skip work. Are you going to come quietly?" she said angrily.

I smirked, stepped aside, and shoved Ichigo toward her, saying, "You're right, Ichigo. You don't need me fighting your battles for you. Maybe I'll see you at the eel restaurant later."

Ichigo's boss hauled him bodily into the van and took of.

"She's still less crazy than my old boss, right Loki?" I said as I started looking around to see if the others were around. I had to defuse some rumors conflating the gang incident and his boss grabbing him that made it sound like an outright kidnapping.

* * *

Later that evening, after I'd finished reviewing the reports from the Rukon Militia and the Rukon University, I headed up to bed. I shook my head at the malfunctioning foeglass. People had been blinking in and out of it at random for he last month. At the moment, Kyubey was back to lurking in the background. A bunch of people I'd never met were up front along with Shu. While I stared at it, one of the unfamiliar faces disappeared.

I laid he magic mirror face down on my nightstand and said, "I'm gonna need to stop by the wizarding world and get a new foeglasss before I confront Kyubey."

Restoring Ichigo's powers was the last thing I needed to do before leaving this world, and once Kiske came back, it would be done one way or the other. I took out my golden locket from the nightstand drawer and transmuted it open, revealing the two moving wizard photos of Sloth inside.

"We're going to keep our promise to attend Ginny and Luna's graduation. With the Oin, I can put enough power behind an Imperius curse to make Kyubey cooperate with bringing you back. It'll also be enough power to Adava Kedavra him after so he won't be able to do this to anyone ever again."

As I went through the plan in my mind for the hundredth time, my soul phone rang. It was Uryu's father, Ryuken. Uryu had been attacked and was in the hospital. He'd already called Ichigo, Chad, and Orihime. After he hung up, I called Shu.

"Hello?" he answered.

"It's Greed," I said. "Ryuken just called. Uryu's in the hospital."

"I know," said Shu. "He called me a few minutes ago. Do you think it could be a survivor from when we killed Yhwach and burned down the quincy city?"

"Or a soul reaper who was still holding a grudge against the quincies from the old days, or an arancar we missed in our Hueco Mundo cleanup, or who knows what," I said. "If my foeglass was working right, we'd have something to go on, but I've given up trying to fix it."

"Okay, I'll head over to the hospital and get the details from Uryu. You should take Loki over to where the attack happened and see if you can find anything we can use to track his attacker."

"Right. I'll meet you in the hospital lobby in a couple hours and we can compare notes," I said, putting my locket away and hanging up the phone.

"Come on, boy," I said to Loki, grabbing his collar. "It looks like we have a late night tonight."

Taking Loki side along, I apparated to the street a few blocks away from Ichigo's house where the ambulance had found Uryu. Unfortunately, rain and foot traffic had wiped away all physical evidence from the attack. I was able to detect traces of spirit energy similar to Chad's and Shu's. The enemy was a fullbringer.

Fullbringers could be tricky to track using their spirit energy since their high speed movement technique didn't disturb the ambient reshi the same way flash step, hirenkyaku, and soinido all did. On the other hand, the technique produced a flicker of green light visible to muggles. The automatons I'd seeded throughout Karakura Town to help against Aizen were still standing vigil. I ordered them to watch for bringer light and record the movements of its users with the scopes of their kido guns.

Shu was waiting for me in the hospital lobby, reading one of his sci-fi books. When I arrived, he marked his page with the bookmark that served as the focus for his fullbring and closed the book.

"Did you find anything?" asked Shu.

"The rain wiped out anything I could use for direct tracking, but I found enough of a spiritual trace to identify the attacker as a fullbringer," I said.

"Uryu didn't get a good look at the guy," said Shu. "He mentioned seeing bringer light, but then he was blindsided. The enemy used a sword Uryu compared to a zanpakto."

"Has Orihime been by yet?" I asked.

"And Ichigo, and Chad," confirmed Shu.

"I doubt the enemy'll do much more tonight," I said. "You should go home and get some sleep. I'll talk to Uryu tomorrow and get the attacker's face from the pensive."

"Didn't your pensive get cracked last week when you were moving around lab equipment?" asked Shu.

"You're right," I said, smacking myself in the forehead. How could I have forgotten? Without the pensive working, I hadn't been able to relive those last days with Sloth and continue probing for hints as to the Incubator's nature. "I can't believe I've let my magical equipment deteriorate to this point. Right when we need it most."

"We'll figure this thing out," said Shu. "We always do. You should get some sleep."

* * *

Uryu wasn't at school the next day. For some reason, he'd refused Orihme's offer to heal him. Keigo and Mizuiro had been attacked at around the same time Uryu had been, but Tatski had happened by and scarred the enemy off.

Ichigo was obviously bothered by the fact that his friends were in danger and he didn't have enough power to be of help. The few days Kiske said he'd take might as well be decades with how helpless and frustrated Ichigo felt. Unfortunately, there was very little even I could do, and my powers were better suited to an investigation like this than Ichigo's ever were.

My tarot cards and tea leaves were giving me confusing results. Some readings suggested a betrayal from a friend while others indicated a wholly external threat. One thing my divination attempts did make clear was that my arsenal wasn't secure. I needed to find a new place to hide the Oin, as well as the mod souls I had in stasis.

To bypass the fideleous charms that currently protected my things, it would take someone trusted. That didn't necessarily imply a deliberate betrayal. Mind control, or more mundane manipulations like hostage taking or an honest mistake could all compromise the safety of my artifacts. Regardless, I'd need to act alone and in secret, leaving behind decoys to conceal the fact that I'd moved the gear.

My homunculus self stayed with Loki to keep him company while Visored me went down to the lab. The mod souls were easily replaced with conventional soul candies. Transfigured copies of the bakotos replaced the genuine ones I had in storage. Most importantly, the Oin's decoy I transmuted out of gold and hid a Grief Cube inside. I'd modified my soul phone to track the unusual energy given off by Grief Cubes, so I'd be able to track whoever stole the decoy.

My fake Philosopher's Stones and hogyoku were far less elaborate, made of stained glass. Red water filling the fake philosopher's Stones gave them an authentic glow without letting them grant any power. The hogyoku was mundane, but a barrier around it hid that fact nicely.

After pocketing the real artifacts, I slipped invisibly off the mansion's grounds. Not wanting to use any of my old hiding spots, I covertly transmuted a sealed stone chamber lined with the spirit energy concealing mineral from the bounts' cave under the aesthetics track at Karakura High School. The chamber had no entrances and, once I put up my barriers, could only be accessed by phasing up through its floor. I used Hadji's barriers to restrict access further by only allowing Visoreds through that way. For good measure, I placed a canister of red water in the chamber with the artifacts set to open on a timer. If I didn't enter in my homunculus body when I came back, the red water fumes would poison me.

* * *

After securing my collection, I went around to my automatons to review the recordings I'd ordered them to make. The results surprised me. In addition to my friends, six fullbringers were active in Karakura Town. The new fullbringers didn't seem to be natives, coming and going from the direction of nearby Naruki city, where Shu lived. picked up my soul phone and gave him a call.

"Tsukishiro Tsukishima speaking," he answered after a couple rings.

"Shu, it's Greed," I replied.

"Greed, what can I do for you?"

"I think I've identified the fullbringers who attacked Uryu," I said. "I'm still going over the footage, but so far I've identified six of them, all apparently commuting with bringer light to and from Karakura Town from Naruki city."

"Footage?" asked Shu.

"Remember those automatons I hid all over the city to use against Aizen? I've had them keeping an eye out for bringer light and they found them."

"Aren't we clever," teased Shu. "If they're around my area, they might try to target me next. What do they look like?"

"Teenage girl with long, pink pigtails. Dark skinned woman with short brown hair and a muscular build. Balding older man with an eye patch and a mustache. Short, skinny street punk with short hair. Short blond boy dressed for much colder weather than we have. And finally, a muscular guy with slicked back, greasy long black hair."

"I'll be sure to keep an eye out," said Shu. "Keep going through what you've got and see if you can find anything else. I'll call the others and pass on what you've told me."

"Will do," I said, hanging up.

* * *

A few hours later, I found something disturbing. One of my automatons had recorded Chad meeting with the pink haired girl. The angle was bad, and I couldn't make out what they were saying, but it was definitely them.

Focusing, I found Chad's spirit ribbon and used it to locate him. Photos in hand, I apparated to his location.

"Greed? What's wrong?" asked Chad, sensing my unease.

Holding up he photo of his meeting, I asked, "Who is this?"

"Where did you get that?" asked Chad, concerned.

"After Uryu was attacked by a fullbringer, I had my automatons keep watch. Who is she?" I repeated.

"Her name is Riruka, and before you say anything, she can't have been the one that attacked Uryu. Her powers don't work that way."

"I'm willing to hear you out," I said. "My divinations have been turning up warnings about friends betraying me, but I don't want to believe that of you, not after everything we've been through together."

"That isn't what this is," affirmed Chad. "I was talking to her about Ichigo."

"Ichigo?" I asked.

"Riruka's a fullbringer," began Chad. "She's friends with a whole group of fullbringers who all hate their powers."

"Why would they hate their powers?" I asked, not following.

"They've all got personal reasons. Not all of them want to talk about it. I know one of them, a woman named Jackie, first manifested her powers when her little brother died in her arms."

"I get the picture," I said, letting out a breath. "What's this got to do with Ichigo?"

"They want to transfer their powers to a substitute soul reaper," said Chad. "They see their powers as a burden, so when they contacted me, they offered to pay for taking their unwanted powers off their hands. Th payment was restoring Ichigo's soul reaper powers."

"How could they do that?" I asked.

"The plan is to teach him to use fullbring," said Chad. "To Ichigo, his combat pass was a tool he used to turn into a soul reaper. A fullbring using it could kick start his powers."

"That's an interesting theory," I said. "It shouldn't be necessary. Kiske's getting something ready that'll restore his powers directly."

"I don't see any reason it has to be one or the other," said Chad. "Ichigo can try their way and if it doesn't work, he can still use what Kiske's getting ready."

"I'd be happier with this plan if Uryu hadn't just been attacked by a fullbringer right at the same time these people are making their offer," I said, frustrated. "I have some pictures. Can you at least help me put names to faces?"

"Sure," said Chad.

The man with the eye patch was named Giriko. The blind boy was Yukio. The greasy haired man was Ginjo. The brown haired woman was Jackie. Chad had already identified the pink haired girl as Riruka. The only one he couldn't identify was the short, skinny punk.

"I really hope that guy's the one who attacked Uryu and that this other group is innocent, but it really sounds too good to be true," I said.

"Why don't you come with me?" suggested Chad. "You can use your legelimency to make sure they're telling the truth. And we can ask about this guy together."

"That's a pretty good idea," I said. "I'll go get Loki and my body."

* * *

Chad, Loki, and I strolled into Naruki city. A rundown looking appartment building was our apparent destination. Chad led the way to a door with an out of place looking key card reader and swiped a black key card with the words "Welcome to our Xcution" on it.

Inside was a dimly lit bar with a high ceiling and expensive leather chairs. Giriko, the fullbringer with the eye patch, stood behind the bar absentmindedly wiping down a glass. Yukio, the blond boy, was seated in a corner hunched down over a handheld video game device. Jackie and Ginjo were reclining in the leather chairs nursing drinks. Riruka, the pink haired girl, was between us and a colorful, cardboard dollhouse.

"Chad, who is this" demanded Riruka, pointing a finger at me.

"This is Greed," said Chad.

"Wait, did you bring a dog, too?" asked Riruka. "What were you thinking?"

"A secret hideout doesn't stay secret if you just bring people to it," said Yukio without looking up from his video game.

I tossed the photographs of the onto the bar and said, "Nothing you do stays secret from me if my friends are at risk. Now, who wants to tell me what you're planning to do with Ichigo?"

Without getting up, Ginjo said, "We can talk about security later. Greed wants to know what we're doing with his friend. That's reasonable. Show him."

"Are you serious, Ginjo?" snapped Riruka. "We don't know the first thing about this guy."

"He said we'd talk about it later," said Yukio. "Just drop it."

"Fine," huffed Riruka. Pointing at the dollhouse, she said, "See for yourself."

"You've started his training already?" asked Chad, running over to the dollhouse and lifting off the roof.

Inside, Ichigo was shrunk down to the appropriate size for the dollhouse. He was running from a pig plushie more than twice his size. As we watched, he barely evaded a punch that would have pulped his scaled down bones from the pig plushie.

"Ichigo, use your combat pass!" Chad called down to him.

"Thanks, Chad," said Ichigo, taking it out of his pocket. "I was just thinking the same thing." He stared at the device, shook it, and tried focusing to no effect as he continued running away.

Suddenly, there was a loud buzzing. The assembled fullbringers' eyes went wide and there was a collective intake of breath. Then a voice announced, "Use of fullbring not detected within specified time limit. Activating crazy beast mode." The pig plushie doubled in size, developed a more defined musculature, and grew extra eyes. Ichigo threw a button at the plushie's eye and used the distraction to hide.

"Giriko, did you have to make it look so ugly?" asked Riruka.

"You did leave the details to me," said Giriko.

"Get Ichigo out of there," demanded Chad, interrupting their argument.

"I can't," said Riruka.

"I can," I said, drawing my wand.

"If you do that, Mr. Ichigo will die," said Giriko furmly but calmly.

I whipped around and pointed my wand at Giriko and called out, "Legelimens!"

I wasn't gentle as I ripped everything he knew about his powers from his mind. Giriko's fullbring was called Time Tells No Lies. The focus was a pocket watch he carried in his vest pocket. Time Tells No Lines was the most complicated fullbring in Xcution.

Giriko conceptualized his powers as making contracts with the god of time. After meeting up with Ginjo and learning the true nature of his powers, he never got out of the habit of thinking of them as contracts with an external being. This was because once set in motion, he could not restrain, negate, or cancel his powers. He lost his eye and his wife learning that lesson the hard way.

Unlike most fullbring abilities that manifest immediately, Giriko had the ability to set up his abilities to activate at a certain time or when certain conditions were met. A similar set of timers or conditions were used to determine when an effect ended. With time to think it through, he could program very complex behaviors. If something unexpected happened Giriko hadn't accounted for when setting the terms, everything involve burned away in green flames. Trying to stop the flames just caused him to burn too.

While the conditional triggers and timers he could set up were nearly limitless, his options for what effect was triggered by his timer was much more limited. He could either invoke the green flames deliberately or he could grant a subject a massive boost in physical strength. The magnitude of both effects, the flames and the strength boost, were dependent on the user's spirit energy. Giriko's flames burning out of control wouldn't singe Loki's fur, but with practically no spirit energy at the moment, Ichigo would unquestionably die fro it.

Announcing when a condition had been met or a timer had run out was optional, as well as precisely what was to be said in what voice. Giriko had used simple applications of his powers as an allarm clock to wake up in the morning.

Shrinking Ichigo and animating his plushie opponent had been accomplished with Riruka's fullbring called Dollhouse. Riruka's fullbring had the unique property of not relying on any particular object as a focus. She manifested a pink, heart shaped energy stamp, which fluttered toward a target. When it hit, it turned into a mark on that target. Marked objects or people could be moved into anything Riruka found cute. She'd moved a man into the plushie Ichigo was fighting to animate it. She'd marked Ichigo and moved him into the dollhouse. The effect was reversed by Riruka sneezing on them.

I released my hold on Giriko's mind and he stumbled, catching himself on the bar. Jackie and Ginjo got to their feet and Yukio looked up from his game. I ignored them and focused on Ichigo.

"Giriko was telling the truth," I said. "If Ichigo can hold out another fifteen minutes, the timer will expire and he can come out safely. If he can use fullbring, that'll meet the conditions and we can get him out immediately."

Chad managed to talk Ichigo through the emotions he used to manifest fullbring, and it finally clicked for Ichigo. Black energy poured out of his badge and manifested as a cross shaped structure centered on the badge and extending out three feet in all four directions. Ichigo used his newly manifested fullbring to block the plushie and start fighting back. He finished the fight by firing a black wheel with multiple spokes out of his badge at his opponent.

Riruka released Ichigo and the man she'd threatened into participating as a plushie. The later she sent away with a few more threats. The former toweled Riruka's snot off him while that was going on.

Going up to Giriko, I said, "I'm sorry I was so rough with you. I needed to know how much danger my friend was in, and what, if anything, I could do to help him. Let me make it up to you." I put away my wand and held out a red stone toward him, which glowed blue with the light of my transmutation.

Giriko undid his eye patch and looked in a mirror, seeing his restored eye. The other fullbringers wore matching expressions of shock.

"Thank you," said Giriko unsteadily as he carefully closed each eye in turn.

"What exactly did you do to Giriko, before you healed his eye, I mean," asked Ginjo.

"Basically, I read his mind," I said. "The process is usually so subtle you wouldn't notice it, but I was in a hurry to get everything I needed to know, so I got a bit rough with him."

"It's why I brought Greed here," said Chad. "Our friend Uryu was attacked recently. Greed can check you to make sure it wasn't any of you."

"You think these guys attacked Uryu?" asked Ichigo.

"Giriko definitely didn't," I said. "I checked while I was in there. It looks like these guys are on the up and up."

"I'm glad we got that cleared up," said Ginjo.

"That leaves us with one suspect," said, taking out a photo of the skinny street punk. "This guy's a fullbringer. Do any of you recognize him?"

"How can I tell that if you hold it so far away?" asked Riruka, snatching the photo from me and holding it close to her face.

"Are you nearsighted?" I asked. "If you want, I can fix that for you. It's even easier than growing Giriko a new eye."

"If you're not going to wear glasses or contacts, you should take him up on it," said Yukio. "That way you can stop complaining about it."

"Okay, fine," said Riruka. "Just don't make my eyes look different."

"Done," I said, moving a red stone in front of her face.

* * *

Author's comments:  
Investigating something isn't easy when you've had your memories tampered with. The fact that anyone else you run into's memories could have also been tampered with means even using legelimency isn't a sure solution.


	65. Chapter 74: The Truth Revealed

The Iron Sole Alchemist and the Soul Reapers (Chapter 74) The Truth Revealed  
by Howlin  
(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to any of the universes, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Sloth, and Loki as my own creation. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

* * *

None of the Xcution members recognized my prime suspect. Ichigo would need some time to recover after his training session, so he was sent home. Chad and I likewise headed back to our places. Once I got home, I called up Shu to give him an update on what had happened. Shu wasn't answering, so I called Uryu at the hospital instead.

"Uryu, how you doin'?" I asked when he picked up.

"I've been better," said Uryu. "What's going on out there?"

"If you'd let Orihime heal you, you'd be out here finding out wiht us," I said. "Why are you still in the hospital?"

"I still don't know why I was attacked in the first place," said Uryu. "They injured me, but they didn't finish me off when they had the chance. I don't want to make a move until I can figure this out."

"Your dad runs the hospital," I pointed out. "You could get healed and stay there faking in case someone tries to come after you while you're hurt."

"I'll think about it," said Uryu. "Any luck finding the guys who attacked me?"

"Turns out most of the fullbringers I identified were innocent but one of them's still with a suspect."

"Which one was it?"

"The scrawny kid."

"Scrawny kid?" asked Uryu.

"Didn't Shu pass along my suspect list?" I asked. "He said he'd tell everyone."

"Who's Shu?" asked Uryu.

"What do you mean, 'who's Shu'?" I asked with concern. "Ichigo's cousin Shu. He went to the Soul Society with us to rescue Rukia. The one who figured out how to put down Aizen. Shu. Tsuhishiro Tsukishima."

"Greed, I don't know anyone by that name. Are you alright?"

"He's our friend, Uryu. You must've had some memory loss from the attack. Don't worry. I'll grab my stuff and be right over."

I hung up, grabbed my rememberal and apparated to the hospital roof. After sensing to make sure Uryu was alone, I used the Ultimate Escape to phase through the ceiling and drop into his room.

"Greed, my memory's fine," said Uryu.

I tossed him the remembral. He caught it and no glow shone from it.

"You're right," I said curiously. "The remembral says you haven't forgotten anything, but you don't know who Shu is."

"It didn't glow for you either," noted Uryu. "Are you sure it's working?"

I took the remembral back, split my soul reaper and homunculus selves, and obliviated homunculus me. The remembral glowed brightly until I merged with myself and synchronized memories.

"The remembral's working," I said. "Here, let me show you a picture of Shu." I took out one of the pictures my automatons had taken after I told them to watch for fullbringers.

"Greed, that's one of the guys who attacked me," said Uryu.

"I thought you didn't get a good look at who attacked you," I said.

"What? Who said that?"

"... Shu did. He said he talked to you when you were first admitted."

Bowing his head, Uryu said, "I say Tsukishima's an enemy. You say he's a friend. We can't both be right."

"There's a way to find out for sure," I said. "It's dangerous, especially if somehow my memories have been altered in a way the remembral can't detect."

"We need to know what's really going on," said Uryu. "What's involved?"

"The method I sue to travel between worlds involves passing through a Gate that contains all the knowledge in the universe. I could open the Gate and expose us both to the Truth within. There are things living inside the Gate that try to rip pieces off those who open it. I've learned to defend myself against them, but the first time I opened the Gate, they took my heart, as in the physical organ that pumps blood. I'd have died if I didn't immediately change bodies."

"We'd know which of our memories was real and which were fake?" confirmed Uryu.

"And more," I said. "You'll have all your memories, even those someone tried to erase, and you'll also have a portion of new knowledge from the Gate. Whatever small fragment of the infinite your human mind can understand and retain."

"Do it," said Uryu.

"First I'm healing you," I said, taking out a red stone. "Facing the Gate Children injured would be foolish."

Once Uryu was healed, I put a barrier up over the door so we wouldn't be disturbed. Then I clapped my hands and summoned the Gate.

When the engraved stone double doors swung open, I knew why my remembral didn't detect anything wrong. Tsukishima hadn't altered my memory. He'd rewritten my past. Tsukishima's power created a false past that he and his target actually lived through. I accurately remembered what had happened to me, but what had happened to me wasn't the same as what an outside observer would have seen. Tsukishima could cut a stone block with his Book of the End, and insert a past of him carving it, and an outside observer would see him seemingly transform the block into a statue.

Tsukishima wasn't the only one who had tampered with my past. Where Tsukishima used his powers to create a false past shared between himself and his target, the other person had altered history on a grand scale with far reaching consequences. Multiple worlds had been touched. I saw the face of the one responsible. A girl with pink hair and pink eyes stood over an Incubator.

Long experience kept me focused on my physical body while these revelations flashed before my mind's eye. Uryu had no such experience and was overwhelmed by what he saw. Amorphous black creatures with purple, slitted eyes reached out from the Gate, grabbing at our faces, our limbs, any part of us they could reach. I clapped and deconstructed the limbs in contact with my body before reaching out and breaking down the tiny black hands trying to disassemble Uryu. Finally, the Gate closed and we were both back in the hospital room whole in both body and mind.

"My grandfather should be alive," said Uryu when the shock faded enough for him to regain the power of speech. "My mother too."

"A lot of people should be alive," I said, finally letting my anger at what had happened touch me now that the Gate was safely closed. "In the original timeline, Sloth wasn't dead. Orihime was able to restore her, and she went on to resurrect more people, save others. Without her, our victories were costlier and our failures worse. We didn't save Senna, and htat change robbed an entire world of an afterlife."

"How does Tsukishima fit into this?" asked Uryu.

"He doesn't," I said. "He inserted himself into my past after the big change to the timeline. All he changed was making it so I trusted him as a friend and making it so my confrontation with him and Ginjo never happened. Plus a lot of little things to cover up what he did."

"Okay, we need to take this one step at a time. After we deal with Tsukishima, we can focus on finding a way to fix the rest of it."

"Dealing with Tsukishima's not going t be easy," I said. "In the past he inserted for me, I taught him everything I know. He's a master alchemist and one of two people on the planet who knows how to kill me permanently. He also knows how I fight inside and out."

"If I understand what happened right, Tsukishima only learned everything you know in the altered timeline. He doesn't have any knowledge from the original timeline where my grandfather taught us blut."

"That's true," I acknowledged. "Killing him is probably the wrong move. If he dies, the effects of his power will fade away. I'm pretty sure he used his powers on Ginjo and the other members of Xcution really want to help Ichigo so legelimency wouldn't give away what they were really planning. If Tsukishima dies, they'll remember they're really our enemies."

"Tsukishima doesn't have any way to know you've broken free, right?" asked Uryu.

"Right," I said.

"Which means, he has no reason to suspect something you gave him was poisoned. You have a potion that can put him into a coma, right?"

"The draught of living death," I said nodding. "Though with the idea being to take him off guard, it might be best to use a potion I've never used before."

* * *

Xcution had several hideouts. I'd learned the locations of all of them when I used legelimency on Ginjo. The hideout where Ichigo was being trained was a backup hideout. Their main hideout was a mansion in Naruki city, which was where Tsukishima was living. The others didn't remember it existed.

I apparated into the dining room where Tsukishima was reading a book while Shishigowara was setting the table. On sighting the later, I stomped my foot and transmuted the hard wood floor, encasing everything but Shishigowara's head in diamond hard crystal.

"Shu, what's going on? That's the guy who attacked Uryu," I said urgently.

"What?" yelled Shishigowara indignantly as he struggled vainly against his binding.

"He did something to Uryu when he attacked him," I continued despite Shishigowara's struggles. "I think it's some kind of mind control. Uryu's on his way here now, and he's planning to kill you. You're still you, right?"

"It's all right," said Tsukishima. "He tried to attack me, but I managed to deflect it back on him. Now, he seems to think we're best friends. I've been waiting for a chance to get away without tipping him off. I was lucky you came by when you did."

A barrage of blue quincy arrows destroyed an exterior wall, revealing Uryuin his white uniform standing on a slightly elevated blue platform of condensed reshi holding a bow that looked completely solid. Tsukishima and I both rolled behind the crystal prison holding Shishigowara, causing him to protest more loudly than before. I took out two potion bottles, tossing one to Tsukishima and uncorking the other.

"That combat potion's optimized for you, Shu," I said as I drank mine.

Tsukishima smirked and downed his.

"We're good, Uryu," I said, standing up and strolling around the crystal. "Shu, you can come out now. It's okay."

"Greed? What's going on?" asked Tsukishima coming around with me and taking my hand.

"I figured it out, Shu," I said. "You used your fullbring on me."

"You know?" said Tsukishima hanging his head in shame. "You must hate me." Tears started falling from his eyes.

"Mr. Tsukishima?" asked Shishigowara. "What did you do to him?"

"You'll see soon enough," said Uryu quietly from behind Shishigowara after a quick burst of hirenkyaku. "Just watch closely and pay attention."

I placed a finger on Tsukishima's chin and turned his head up to look me in the eye. "I'll forgive you. On one condition."

Tsukishima took my hand in both of his and looked at me with tear filled yes. "Anything."

"Mr. Tsukishima-!" yelled Shishigowara before Uryu covered his mouth. Tsukishima was so fixated on me I doubt he heard the cry.

"Book of the End," I said. "You used it on me, and now I can't trust you with it. I'll forgive you, but only if you give your fullbring to me."

Shishigowara tried to bite Uryu's hand, but only managed to chip a tooth on Uryu's blut veine protected hand.

"If that's what it takes," said Tsukushima, "it's yours."

Tsukishima held up his favorite bookmark, which glowed green with bringer light before transforming into a sword. Closing his eyes and bowing his head, the sword vanished in a mass of green flames. The flames leapt from Tsukishima's hand to mine where they reconstituted back into a sword.

"I forgive you, Shu," I said, taking a bottle from my belt pouch and handing it to him. "Drink that."

He drank gratefully and said, "What is it?"

"The antidote," I said, admiring my new blade. "The vial you drank first wasn't a combat enhancement potion. It was amortentia, the most powerful love potion ever made."

"Amortentia? You!" Tsukishima's features twisted with rage. He clapped his hands and lunged toward me.

I casually nicked my wrist with Book of the End, employing its ability to selectively inflict a real cut or not to avoid having to regenerate the scratch. Tsukishima's hands slapped against my chest, but nothing happened.

"Cut someone with Book of the End, and you can insert yourself into your target's past. In addition to all the changes you make to their past, you can also use it to learn everything there is to know about someone. But, if the same person is cut a second time, that false past goes away, and with it, all the knowledge you claimed from it."

"He's done," said Uryu. "Let's go." He stepped out through the hole in the wall.

"One more thing," I said, looking down at Tsukishima who was on his knees with tears rolling down his cheeks. "I despise amortentia. Love potions are a violation of something I hold sacred. That's very few things these days. I used it on you because what you did was the exact same kind of violation. I hate everything you are, and the only reason I'm not going to kill you is because doing you would pollute my bankai. I will do the next best thing."

Casting a spell I never thought I'd find a use for, I turned Tsukishima into a toad. Then I turned my back and followed Uryu through the destroyed wall.

"Wait a minute!" called out Shishigowara.

I stopped and glanced over my shoulder.

"Your name's Greed, right?" said Shishigowara. "It ain't Wrath. You just wanted Mr. Tsukishima's fullbring. The rest of this is just you blowing smoke."

"It's just a name," I said. "I'm capable of feeling more than one emotion at a time, and I can do things for more than one reason. Yes, I wanted Book of the End. I also wanted to hurt Tsukishima. I got both. His powers are mine, and he's going to spend the rest of his life as a toad."

"Even so, I bet you're greedier than you are anything else, including vengeful," said Shishigowara. "I'm thinking a trade."

"If you're offering me your probability manipulating Jackpot Knuckle-"

Suddenly, there was a flash of green light between Shishigowara and myself.

"You've got my Jackpot Knuckle," said Shishigowara. "But the thing is, when fullbringers transfer their powers, we can put restrictions on them. The only way my Jackpot Knuckle will ever work for you is if you turn Mr. Tsukishima back to normal, walk away, and don't try and come after us again."

"You gave up your powers for him?" I asked.

"I'd give up my life for Mr. Tsukishima," said Shishigowara.

"Fine," I said, untransfiguring Tsukishima with a gesture. "Just remember, both of you, that if I ever so much as sense your presence near me or any of my friends, Greed or no, the threat of losing Jackpot Knuckle won't save either of you."

"What... just happened?" asked Tsukishima.

"Shishigowara just bailed you out for the second time," I told him. "If I were you, I'd show some gratitude by getting him out of that crystal."

"Can he get him out of that crystal?" asked Uryu when we were out of earshot.

"The stuff's harder than diamond, but it's very thin," I said. "It'll take time and effor,t but if he cares about the guy who saved him from being a toad, he'll manage it."

"So, is it over?" asked Uryu.

"I need to use this sword to reverse what he did to Loki. He also got Keigo, Mizuiro, and Tatski. Apparently, he got to Orihime while you and I were comparing notes."

* * *

Freeing the rest of our friends went smoothly. In the interest of not tipping Ginjo off that there was something wrong, Uryu and I kept to ourselves the fact that, were it not for the influence of Tsukishima's fullbring, they would be our enemies. After explaining our defeat of Tsukishima and Shishigowara, we let the others thing that was the end of it.

While Ichigo continued his fullbring training, I stayed close by. That gave me the opportunity to see the others' fullbrings in action and plan for how to share them between Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, Tatski, and I. Transferring the powers themselves was straightforward, but most of them required a unique focus object. I'd simply taken Tsukishima's bookmark and Shishigowara's brass knuckles, but that wasn't going to work with sharing the powers.

Ginjo was happy to work with me on solving the problem. Just because his fabricated backstory made him want to be rid of his fullbring, that didn't stop him from accepting our point of view about sharing those powers amongst ourselves. The man certainly knew his trade and provided a lot of valuable insights.

Ichigo's completed fullbring took the form of a sword with his combat pass as the cross guard and a suit of light, form fitting armor composed of rigid bands the color of bleached bones over a black bodysuit. Ichigo could fire several of his black, wheel like projectiles at once or he could fire off a blue getsuga tensho. Completing his fullbring hadn't reawakened Ichigos soul reaper power, but Ginjo remained convinced it was only a matter of time.

Time ran out at the end of the week. Kiske and Ishin cut open the door to the fullbringers' hideout while Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Tatski, Loki, and I were there with the Xcution members. Rukia flash stepped into the room, past the two of them, and ran Ichigo through with the special sword Kiske had created. Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise as he was expelled from his body. His soul reaper uniform was slightly different, and Zangetsu's shikai form had taken on a more finished look, but Ichigo definitely had his soul reaper powers back.

"I don't understand," said Ginjo looking at the two exiled former captains standing in the doorway. "Are you helping us?"

"We're helping Ichigo," said Rukia.

"Do you guys mind if we finish what we were doing here before we get too deep into the reunion?" I asked. Gesturing at the Xcution members, I said, "They aren't really part of the reunion and I'm sure they're eager to get on with becoming powerless, ordinary humans."

"By all means," said Ksike.

"Right," said Ichigo.

Green light passed from Riruka, Yukio, Giriko, Jackie, and Ginjo into Ichigo. The four of them who had focus objects set them on a table. I noticed that Ginjo was the only one of them who could still see Rukia who wasn't using her gigai.

I nodded to Uryu, manifested Tsukishima's sword, Book of the End, and flash stepped around the room, cutting all five members of Xcution and removing the false past Tsukishima had given them. Ichigo disarmed me and slammed me up against a wall in a move too fast for my eyes to follow at my diminished level of spirit energy. I relaxed an held my hands out to my sides and motioned for Loki to relax as well.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded Ichigo.

Ginjo reached for his substitute soul reaper badge. Uryu formed a bow and loosed two arrows before Ginjo could use it. Uryu's arrows pierced Ginjo's soul chain and soul sleep, permanently destroying his soul reaper powers.

"Uryu?" asked Ichigo. "What the hell is going on here?"

"We can explain," said Captain Hitsugaya as a senkaimon opened. He was joined by Captains Byakuya Kuchki and Kenpachi Zaraki, Lieutenants Yachiru Kusajishi and Renji Abarai, and Third Seat Ikaku Madarame.

"Kugo Ginjo was the first substitute soul reaper," explained Byakuya. "It was because of hm and his actions that Central 46 created the law against transferring soul reaper powers to a human."

"Ginjo was never planning on helping you," said Renji. "This was all a plot to restore your soul reaper powers so he could steal them."

"Tsukishima's fullbring change the past of whatever it cuts," I explained. "They used it to avoid suspicion. They couldn't give away their plans if they didn't know they were planning anything. I just gave them the second cut to restore their true pasts."

"Greed and I figured it out a few days ago and sent a message to the Soul Society so we could coordinate our response," said Uryu.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" asked Ichigo.

"You had training to focus on," I said. "Telling you sooner wouldn't have made any difference."

"I guess not," said Ichigo, shrugging. "What happens to them now?"

"Ginjo is a wanted criminal," said Captain Hitsugaya. "He will be escorted back to the Soul Society to stand trial before Central 46 for the numerous soul reapers he murdered to steal their power. The rest of them have committed no crime as far as the Soul Society is concerned and can go free."

"I can't believe I came all the way out here to help arrest this guy and he's powerless when I get here," said Kenpachi, picking up Ginjo and slinging him under his arm. "You really take the fun out of life, Greed."

* * *

Kenpachi, Yachiru, and Ikaku returned to the Soul Society with Ginjo while the rest of us relocated to Urahara's shop, leaving the remaining Xcution members behind to contemplate their life choices. After giving Ichigo his chance to properly greet and catch up with his long absent friends, I broached the subject of my impending departure.

"I've told you all that I came to this world in order to acquire weapons and power to use against a powerful enemy," I said. "It's time. After we sort out distributing the captured fullbrings, I'll be leaving this world to face him."

"Why now?" asked Ichigo.

"One of the reasons I was staying was to make sure you got your powers back. Now they are. I've also predicted over a decade of relative peace and quiet for this world. Ginjo was the last major threat you'll have to worry about for a while. And there's one more thing."

"What's that?" asked Orihime.

"When I was under the effects of Tsukishima's power, the technique I used to break free revealed all the changes to the timeline, not just those Tsukishima caused. I found out this world isn't fully isolated from the creature's influence. A few months ago, Kyubey granted a wish that effected our lives for the worse."

"I was with him, so I remember the original timeline," said Uryu. "Greed's wife survived originally, and she used her powers to help us. She brought back my bother and grandfather. She brought back Ichigo's mother. She brought back a lot of people, and everyone she couldn't bring back, she was able to tell us they were happy where they ended up."

"Misaki?" said Ishin, disbelieving.

"After Orihme healed Sloth, Misaki was one of the first people she brought back to life," I confirmed.

"Your wife," said Tatski to me. "How much time with her did you lose?"

"Over a year," I said. "Including a lot of time supporting each other as we came to terms with our new powers."

"We'll come with you," said Ichigo.

"It sounds as if this creature is a threat to our world," said Byakuya. "If we are just beginning a time of peace, now would be an excellent time to eliminate the threat it represents once and for all."

"I can't pass through the Gate with an army in tow," I said. "The last time someone tried, what came out the other side were corpses covered in black goo that caused them to keep walking and killing until they were put down."

"There has to be something we can do," said Ichigo.

"You've all already helped me immensely," I said. "The things I've learned and the powers I've gained to use against him wouldn't have been possible without having you as friends. Where else could I have learned about substitute soul reapers, hollowfication, fullbring, and the nearly lost quincy arts?

"And I know that won't satisfy you. You want to be there for me like I've been there for you, but you can't. The only thing you can do that will help me is finish what we started, distributing those fullbrings so I can use them as weapons when I confront Kyubey."

* * *

It turned out Ichigo had already integrated the abilities of most of the other fullbrings into his own, engraving the memories needed to activate them into the soul of his combat pass. When Ichigo activated his fullbring, the blade could fire the green energy beam Cross of Scaffold could in addition to Ichigo's own black wheels and blue getsuga tensho. The entire armored bodysuit had the power of Dirty Boots, increasing Ichigo's strength in proportion to how much grime he was covered in. Ichigo didn't need to shift his badge out of its default form to make use of Time Tells No Lies, setting timers and conditions.

Dollhouse didn't need any particular focus object, leaving Invaders Must Die as the only fullbring Ichigo still needed the original focus object for, Yukio's handheld video game console. Given how important the controls on the device were for manipulating the pocket dimension the power created, there didn't seem to be much point trying to change that.

I transferred the fullbring powers I had to Ichigo. Brazo Derecho del Gigante and Brazo de Izquierda del Diablo integrated smoothly. Ichigo's fullbring sword absorbed the powers of Book of the End and Jackpot Knuckle, completing the set.

Once I transferred my powers, I took a pill I'd prepared that restored my spirit energy and the powers I'd had when I created the pill. Copies of Yukio's gaming console and new substitute soul reaper combat passes were handed out so they could be engraved with the needed memories. Finally, a reshi sample was taken from Ichigo before he transferred his fullbring powers to Chad. The powers were passed around with a reshi sample taken from each substitute soul reaper when they held the powers, until they ended up with me. Using those reshi samples, we created red pills that acted as backup copies of our new peak power. Everyone but me swallowed their pill immediately to get their fullbring abilities back. I made sure everyone had a full dispenser of power backup pills in case something happened down the road.

I bid my farewells to the friends I'd made in this world, took Loki, and apparated to the high school where I retrieved everything I'd hidden away rather than risk Tsukishima bypassing the fideleous charms on the mansion by subverting Chad and Orihime. I'd cleaned out my things from the mansion earlier in anticipation of leaving.

"Come on, Loki," I said, clapping my hands. "It's time to deal with Kyubey."

* * *

Author's comments:  
Greed's time in the world of Bleach has now come to an end. Now armed with every weapon he could get his hands on, it's time to return to the world of Madoka Magicka and finish what began there.


End file.
